Facebook’s Metaverse heralds a global virtual economy

Facebook’s Metaverse is like Second Life 20 years on, with VR technology and big real world profits.

The Meta logo shown on a laptop screen. Picture: AFP

Facebook’s Metaverse is like the concept of Second Life 20 years on, updated with virtual reality technology and with new ideas to extend the original concept to new heights.

That’s one take on the Metaverse for what can be a hard concept to describe.

The Metaverse, like Second Life, brings the elements of an economy as a drawcard for people, companies and large organisations to take part. However Facebook’s Metaverse will go much further, with the Metaverse becoming a platform for real life economic growth and profits.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the virtual Facebook Connect event, where the company announced its rebranding as Meta. Photographer: Getty Images

Second Life was more about a virtual economy and a virtual token called Linden Dollars where you could grow economically and achieve success in a fantasy world, although some made big real world profits from it including Linden Labs which made millions. It was the game Monopoly on steroids.

The Metaverse, however, is about transacting in the real world economy using virtual space, with all the graphic benefits of conversing and transacting in virtual reality.

It’s been a personal project of Mark Zuckerberg for years; Zuckerberg has always been fascinated by the potential of virtual environments, evidenced by Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus, a maker of virtual reality headsets, in 2014 for $US2bn.

The move to rebrand with a Facebook parent called ‘Meta’ is not simply a last minute plan or diversion from Facebook’s real world problems, although Facebook may be desperately hoping it works that way.

Facebook Spaces in 2017 was another peg in the tent where you invite and interact with up to three of your Facebook friends using a VR device.

The Metaverse however is about money, big money, where Facebook plans to set up an economy that will lure interest from real world corporations, investors and participants alike, but play out in a virtual reality world with all the benefits of new VR tech.

The new Meta logo on a laptop screen. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

There is another peg in the tent that may play into this – Facebook’s coming cryptocurrency Diem, described as a stablecoin pegged to conventional assets.

Just two weeks ago, Facebook launched a pilot of its Novi digital wallet in the US and Guatemala. According to reports, it uses the Paxos stablecoin in partnership with Coinbase rather than Diem at this stage. Although nothing is confirmed, Diem could be pivotal in its Metaverse economy – we will have to see.

Facebook says the Metaverse will support non-fungible tokens or NFT’s, digital title deeds of ownership that have been enthusiastically taken up in the real world, offering proof of ownership of art, music and sporting experiences. It suggest you will be able to demonstrate ownership of assets you acquire in the metaverse with NFTs.

All these separate moves could be separate moves, but I’d bet my Diem dollars on this converging in the Metaverse.

Originally published as Facebook’s Metaverse heralds a global virtual economy