NY Mag: Facebook’s Metaverse Is ‘Dead on Arrival’

In a recent article, New York Magazine outlines why Facebook (now “Meta”) may be overconfident in banking on its new Metaverse product. According to NY Mag,  “In actuality, Facebook is basically spending $10 billion on a prayer that, in the short run, it might change the conversation.”

New York Magazine writes in an article titled “Why Facebook’s Metaverse Is Dead on Arrival,” that Facebook’s metaverse project may not be the revolutionary new product that the company thinks it is. The term Metaverse refers to an interconnected virtual universe; Facebook plans to have users socialize, work, and game within the confines of its new digital realm. But why is the company banking so heavily on this new idea, even choosing to rebrand as “Meta?”

Pivot co-host Scott Galloway explains that he thinks the Metaverse is a piece of PR magic, stating:

In actuality, Facebook is basically spending $10 billion on a prayer that, in the short run, it might change the conversation. It gives them an opportunity to talk about the metaverse instead of insurrection and teen depression. It gives Mark Zuckerberg a chance to talk about the metaverse instead of saying, “Hi, I’m the CEO of Facebook, I’m ruining the world.” But Facebook’s metaverse won’t work.

Breitbart News has reported extensively on the “Facebook Files” series from the Wall Street Journal which made a number of damning claims about the tech giant based on a series of internal company documents.

The Wall Street Journal claimed that Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm saw a major change in 2018 that appeared to promote outrageous and negative content on the platform. When informed of this, top executives including CEO Mark Zuckerberg were allegedly hesitant to solve the issue.

The internal documents also appear to reveal that the tech giant Apple threatened to remove Facebook from its App Store in 2019 following a report from BBC News that detailed the human trafficking taking place across the social media platform.

One of the most damning reports was titled “Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show,” in which the Journal claims that Facebook is aware that its photo-sharing app Instagram can have a negative effect on the body image of young women.

Galloway outlined why he believes that the Metaverse won’t work, stating:

…Facebook’s metaverse is dead on arrival. The fundamental mistake people make around these AR or VR experiences is to immediately think of sight as the entry point into a metaverse. When Mark Zuckerberg says, “Imagine your friend is at a great concert around the world and you can join her.” Let’s play that out. I get a text message from my friend and I’m at the mall, or a movie, or at school. Am I going to pull out my handy Oculus and throw it on my head and start jamming to the Weeknd? It doesn’t make any sense. The Oculus is not a wearable. In fact, it’s prophylactic. No one’s going to get near you. It’s basically the fastest way to say, “I don’t date.” You’re never going to get mass adoption with an item that is clunky, makes you nauseous, and has a negative self-expressive benefit.

A portal needs to be like an appendage, and right now, there’s actually more opportunity around sound than sight. Oculus sells like 2 or 3 million units a year? Apple sold 110 million AirPods last year. People wear them when they’re not even using them. Someone can already say, “Hey, I’m at the Weeknd’s concert in Prague right now, listen to this,” and you can listen wherever you are. Looking forward, Apple could install some sort of smart camera on AirPods and you might be able to see whatever someone else is seeing on their AirPods. That’s why Apple owns the on-ramp to AR, and the App Store is kind of the closest thing we have to a metaverse right now. While it’s a little clunky, your apps all work on one system, so it’s somewhat interoperable, and the interface is your phone.

Read more at the New York Magazine here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com