We all know who Mark Zuckerberg is and we definitely know what Facebook is. Most likely we all have/had an account there, it may still be active or in an inactive hibernation as we haven't posted or interacted in ages.
But Facebook is more than a social network, it is a technology conglomerate, owning Instagram, WhatsApp, Occulus, among others. Recently, Facebook has been in the media and under scrutiny in recent weeks after Sender on signals are appeared, presenting internal documents that showed Facebook making profits instead of users, including children.
Now it seems that Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has announced the next step for his company. This involves the creation of what he has dubbed the Metaverse, namely his namesake company Meta.
Neal Stephenson coined the term and created a vision of a "computer-generated universe" in his novel " Snow catastrophe " of 1992.
So in search of a computer-generated world, outside of our physical existence, we will be able to work, live, socialize, exercise and do everything else we are used to in our daily lives, this time in a digital space.
Viewed from a blockchain perspective, a decentralized Metaverse would make sense since you own your person, not a company. Additionally, you would be able to own land and items in the form of NFTs, which you can then sell or move.
You thought, since you know everything we do about Facebook, would you trust them with your data?
From what we've seen so far, the Facebook/Meta metaverse will try to capitalize on the crypto hype by developing its own blockchain. In addition to this, Facebook/Meta has been developing their own cryptocurrency (Libra) for some time, which will likely be the currency of their metaverse. At the same time, with the partnership of Coinbase, they are developing a cryptocurrency wallet called Novi.
Therefore, this is not just a rebranding for Zuckerberg and co. This is something bigger. This is an expansion of his company's operations in such a way that many will hesitate to follow, especially those who are pro-decentralization and are already aware of Zuckerberg and his company's past abuses. Do you want your personal, financial, work-related, health, and other data to be owned and controlled by Meta (Facebook!), which at the same time will own the virtual world you manage and can alter your experience to your detriment for their own gain?
However, there is always something good happening on the internet. The silver lining in this case is that the news coverage of the new ventures and Facebook's name has allowed alternative blockchain projects aiming to develop virtual worlds that are completely decentralized to be brought into the spotlight for the masses, such as Decentraland
A consumer-owned world is much preferable to a world owned by Zuckerberg and his ilk, and I'd also stand by the former as long as there are alternatives.