Friday, 18 July 2025
  • Login
  • Home
  • LSJ TV
  • LSJ Magazine
  • The Linc
  • Style Guide
  • Privacy Policy
  • About LSJ
LSJ News
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Arts and Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Business
  • Community
    • Education
    • International
    • Viewpoint
  • Politics
  • Science and Technology
    • Environment
    • Health
  • Video
  • Podcasts
LSJ News
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Arts and Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Business
  • Community
    • Education
    • International
    • Viewpoint
  • Politics
  • Science and Technology
    • Environment
    • Health
  • Video
  • Podcasts
No Result
View All Result
LSJ News
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

How will the Metaverse impact our lives and will it destroy society as we know it?

Facebook recently changed its name to ‘Meta’ and announced something it’s working on called the Metaverse – but how will this virtual world actually affect our lives?

Ben Welham by Ben Welham
May 4, 2022
in Business, Science and Technology
0 0
A A
Facebook's Metaverse

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

262
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on LinkedinShare via Email

The idea of meeting friends and family in a virtual world is a rather daunting phenomenon for many people but seems inevitable following on from the coronavirus pandemic. We began to see the future of socialising when something called the Metaverse was announced by tech billionaire and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, late last year. The Metaverse is essentially “a whole new 3D interactive internet,” as labelled by Faisal Galaria, Blippar CEO and is something that comes with both positives and negatives.

Imagine a place where you can hang out with friends and conduct business meetings from the comfort of your bedroom. Not only is this a huge change in the way we interact with others, but it is also a vast and endless way for businesses to promote their latest and greatest products. The world of exchanging money will be altered too as a more decentralised way of banking comes into play in the form of cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum – a currency on which many metaverses will likely be built on thanks to its diversity and established space in the market.

Image: A single Bitcoin next to a hundred-dollar bill. Image by Bermix Studio via Unsplash

Chau Le, lecturer in banking and finance at the University of Lincoln believes this way of life is the future of the internet and explains what she thinks the benefits and downsides of Facebook’s Metaverse are. “This is the future for the internet and perhaps an inevitable trend given the exponential development of technology,” she said.

“Metaverse has both positive and negative impacts on our lives. Metaverse allows people to interact and communicate without spatial constraints. We could explore new pieces of knowledge and entertainment through experiences that would be impossible in the real world. Academics may use metaverse for meetings, conferences and teaching… and still feel they are in the right room.

“We can do banking and other financial transactions via virtual locations rather than using branches and websites. However, the downside is that people may get addicted to this virtual world through games and this also gives rise to increasing mental health concerns,” Chau Le added.

Building the Metaverse isn’t as simple as designing a mobile app or coding a game, instead, this will require a large number of companies to work together to ensure that what is being built is viable and ideally decentralised. A centralised virtual space probably isn’t the best way to go because it would mean one company controlling everything. Instead, a decentralised one would allow thousands of companies and brands to co-exist, meaning it isn’t controlled by a single currency or state.

Gaming in the Metaverse via Sandbox. Credit: Ben Welham

Once the Metaverse is created, it won’t come without its problems, mind. Three of the biggest concerns with the creation of the Metaverse are its effect on health, cyber-attacks, and lack of regulation leading to bigger issues down the line. In terms of mental health, the main concern is what ‘living’ in the Metaverse would do to someone’s mental and physical health. Nobody knows what ‘living’ in it will actually entail but we can assume it would involve VR headsets allowing users to be disconnected from the real world for hours on end.

Sure, there might be the chance to move around on treadmills and other fitness equipment, but not everyone will have access to those facilities. Not only could this online universe be a breeding ground for bullying, but as soon as someone leaves this virtual world, they are then left alone in some circumstances, and you can’t live in there forever – at least not for the start.

Another branch of health concerns is sexual harassment which is already an existing issue in Meta’s virtual world game, Horizon World – which is still in its beta stage. There was a report of a woman who had been virtually groped in the game, and despite it being a game, this is still a concern for thousands and many claim ‘VR sexual harassment is still sexual harassment’.

David Reid, professor of AI and Spatial computing at Liverpool Hope University thinks the metaverse, however, will offer many benefits including to those who aren’t physically able to leave their homes.

“A lot of people when they started talking about the metaverse automatically think you will be wearing VR headsets and being isolated from the rest of the world but there’s no reason why the metaverse can’t be used in a mixed reality format where actually you can move around a real environment.

“Imagine you’re a kid in a hospital bed. The metaverse will basically allow you to meet up with your friends and go places with them. So, you can go on virtual trips with people that you know and share experiences with them. It means that anyone who is physically isolated doesn’t need to be mentally isolated anymore.”

Facebook's Metaverse
A character in the Metaverse. Credit: Facebook’s Meta presentation

There is, however, no doubt that cyberbullying will exist in the metaverse but this has existed in all forms of social interaction from the beginning of civilisation, through to the internet and now into the growing beast that is web3.

Overall, it looks as though there are many potential dangers with a place like the Metaverse, with lots of niggles to resolve before it develops any further. However, there are also a lot of upsides to this inevitable next step in technology to help businesses reach new global sales levels and to create an easier way for people to connect with others around the world. It’s going to be a really interesting shift to watch over the next decade and beyond and one where adoption is going to rapidly grow as time goes on and as the technology develops.

Click here to see how cryptocurrencies will be used in the metaverse

Tags: encryptionfacebookfinance
Previous Post

Becoming eco-friendly doesn’t have to be an economical burden

Next Post

Healthy Houseplants: The mental health benefits of indoor gardening

Related Articles

‘It’s a violation’: how shoplifting became a major Lincoln issue
Business

‘It’s a violation’: how shoplifting became a major Lincoln issue

by Jemma Robinson
June 20, 2025
0

It may not be a crime that would result in anyone ending up on a Most Wanted list. But for...

Lincoln firefighters complete 75 mile walk for 40th anniversary of Bradford City fire
Community

Lincoln firefighters complete 75 mile walk for 40th anniversary of Bradford City fire

by Becky Harper
June 9, 2025
0

Thirty firefighters from across Lincolnshire have completed a gruelling 75-mile walk in memory of the Bradford City stadium fire which...

Lincoln’s ‘new age kurling’ doubles in popularity

Lincoln’s ‘new age kurling’ doubles in popularity

May 8, 2025
Electric car industry continues growth despite more work needing to be done

Electric car industry continues growth despite more work needing to be done

May 7, 2025
“I was stuck in a vicious cycle” – Weight loss coach explores the mental plight of obesity

“I was stuck in a vicious cycle” – Weight loss coach explores the mental plight of obesity

May 7, 2025
Lincoln experiencing hottest ever beginning to May – raising fears of climate change’s impact

Lincoln experiencing hottest ever beginning to May – raising fears of climate change’s impact

May 1, 2025
Next Post
Healthy Houseplants: The mental health benefits of indoor gardening

Healthy Houseplants: The mental health benefits of indoor gardening

More from LSJ News

‘You suddenly forget about your jiggly bits’: meet the Lincoln belly-dancers proving anyone can perform

‘You suddenly forget about your jiggly bits’: meet the Lincoln belly-dancers proving anyone can perform

July 16, 2025
Kevin Lynes standing infront of his car smiling

‘Some are so big you could take a bath in them’: potholes making life a misery for Lincoln drivers

July 7, 2025
‘Longer than my car’: big cat sightings spark fear – and curiosity – in Suffolk village

‘Longer than my car’: big cat sightings spark fear – and curiosity – in Suffolk village

July 4, 2025
A photograph of Ed Devine taken during a pre-season friendly between North Ferriby FC and Hull City Under-21s in July 2024.

Dropped at 11, pro at 18: how Hull City’s teen star Ed Devine bounced back from childhood rejection

June 30, 2025
Opinion: don’t judge me – I love cheap tea

Opinion: don’t judge me – I love cheap tea

June 26, 2025

Trending on LSJ News

  • ‘You suddenly forget about your jiggly bits’: meet the Lincoln belly-dancers proving anyone can perform

    ‘You suddenly forget about your jiggly bits’: meet the Lincoln belly-dancers proving anyone can perform

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Lewis Fiorini: Lincoln’s latest loan success story

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dropped at 11, pro at 18: how Hull City’s teen star Ed Devine bounced back from childhood rejection

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Girl, 12, on track to be first Sikh Formula One driver

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Opinion: Beans mixed with tuna? Trust me, it works

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
LSJ News

© 2024 LSJ News - Part of the School of Education and Communication at the University of Lincoln

Links

  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Arts and Entertainment
  • Business
  • Community
  • Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • Video
  • Podcasts

Social Links

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Arts and Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Business
  • Community
    • Education
    • International
    • Viewpoint
  • Politics
  • Science and Technology
    • Environment
    • Health
  • Video
  • Podcasts

© 2024 LSJ News - Part of the School of Education and Communication at the University of Lincoln

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.