On October 28, Facebook Inc changed its name to Meta Platforms. Cynics and realists say it was because the Facebook name had become synonymous with greed, divisiveness and duplicity. Meta Platforms says it was because of their increasing focus on the Metaverse.
The term Metaverse was first used by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, “Snow Crash,” and refers to an immersive digital world in which people can do they things they do in meatspace: walk around, buy things, avoid eye contact on the subway.
In the real world, the Metaverse has been making inroads ever since. Amazon (founded in 1994), Second Life (2003), Instagram (2010), Fortnite (2017) and countless other businesses all to a certain degree allow customers to build their own online virtual world and interact with others who are doing the same.
It's hard for a human to resist a realm where they can form relationships, conduct them entirely in their underwear, and step away from them with no consequence. And yes, in a country where a plurality said they could fall in love with an operating system, online relationships can be authentic.
Facebook wants to own the Metaverse because real money will increasingly be spent in virtual worlds. Their main competition today to own the Metaverse is the cryptocurrency community, which initially aimed to create the money of the Internet, but having not yet fulfilled that goal, upped the stakes to wanting to become the Internet itself.
It remains to be seen if the blockchain promise of truly decentalized applications is viable, but there are already more than 100 million people and one 44-year old quarterback that own cryptocurrencies, NFTs and other items that only have value online. And thanks to the fervor of crypto adherents, who pride themselves on never selling their holdings, it is even better capitalized than Facebook, sorry, Meta Platforms, with a total market cap of $2 trillion v Meta's $1 trillion.
Meta Platforms and crypto bros may both be rich, but neither are trusted. Only 9% trusted cryptocurrencies in 2017 and even now, with prices roughly 10x what they were in 2017, trust is stuck at 8%. Meanwhile, Meta Plaforms clocks in at 4%. It's unlikely any entity rich enough to build a Metaverse on its own will ever be trusted enough for the world join it. In our opinion the Metaverse that most people will want to spend time in is likely to be built by a consortium of many like-minded providers — a meta-world peace, if you will.
