Facebook invests $50M to build the 'metaverse' in responsible manner

I feel like treating at face value that Facebook is building things in a "responsible" manner—in the headline, even—is the opposite of journalism.

If we showed our current state to people from 10 years ago, they would be too astonished to believe the a trail of desolation this company in particular has managed in just a short few years. The two biggest threats to population of the united states right now, by my reckoning, are the looming internal threat of civil war including the associated coup attempt, and inability to properly respond to the global pandemic.

I can't see any interpretation in which social media (but epecially facebook) isn't driving both of these. It is more than likely pursuing these on purpose; in each of these cases, a massive section of the population now actively rejects information about the world from almost any other source, and prioritises recruitment. Make no mistake, facebook knows this shift in zeitgeist essentially makes Facebook far more valuable, regardless of the harm and even death it is causing to Americans, let alone people in other (more often forgotten about) nations.

How on earth can FB

> invest the money globally over two years to ensure metaverse technologies are "built in a way that's inclusive and empowering,"

when they can't even build their current platform to do that?

We had a shot at a real "Metaverse" around 20 years ago. New protocols were blowing up, p2p internet usage was off the charts, and new software was being developed at unfathomable speed. Eventually though, that fun and connected internet got shook down by the cable providers for not making enough money, so now we're trapped in this dystopian http hellscape. Microsoft started it, then Apple and Google followed their lead. Now, all it takes to be a success story in Silicon Valley is licking the boot of a Fortune 500 company. You aren't building a future system, you're hoisting a content silo that's locking people into an even more centralized, railroaded system than before.

Facebook wouldn't be spending this kind of money if they didn't expect it to pay dividends. Keep that in mind as you read about anything "Metaverse" related.

Actual footage from the Facebook board meeting discussing responsibly building the 'metaverse'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPE85Jogjw

IMVU, Eric Ries, lean start-up, metaverse, are we coming in full circle? Why metaverse now?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMVU

As far as doomsday devices go, you have to admit, this one is definitely the most responsibly built.

I would have scare quoted "responsible" instead of "metaverse", personally.

This is the first thing Facebook mentions in the section titled “How We’re Building Responsibly”

"We’ll work with experts in government, industry and academia to think through issues and opportunities in the metaverse. For instance, its success depends on building robust interoperability across services, so different companies’ experiences can work together.”

This is about them being afraid that early adopters will be on other platforms like Roblox.

meanwhile, the usability of the site gets worse by the day...very clunky these days...this article sounds like wall st vaporware hype...all these big companies get worse on the core competencies the bigger they get

Sounds like Marc found some loose change in his pockets.

the metaverse sounds like https://www.prod.there.com

Facebook lies continuously. Just not credible. They need to restore trust with trustworthy action (not PR or Zuck “taking responsibility” for X) and real transparency.