Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook as a whole have been intensely in the spotlight recently. There have been transitions to Meta, whistleblowing, and the talk of a new lifestyle. Personally, the whole situation is quite confusing, so let’s start from the beginning.

Facebook has been going strong for about 17 years, but whistleblower Frances Haugen has put Facebook in a tight corner with claims and evidence saying that Facebook was aware of the very negative affects it had on users and chose to do nothing. There has been speculation that the new release of Meta and Metaverse are simply to turn the camera over to a new shiny distraction so that they can escape from the corner in hopes everyone will forget.

“If you don’t like the conversation, you try to change the conversation,” said Haugen.

What even is Meta? You may have noticed that now when you open Instagram at the bottom of the page it says Meta, with the new infinity sign logo. Meta is the ‘Parent Organization’ of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, a new company name. So yes, Facebook the app is not going anywhere. Simply put, Meta is an organization providing social platforms that allow for a more interaction over the internet.

So, what is Metaverse? Metaverse will essentially be a universe that is blending virtual and real life. Some have described it as a more realistic sims, you will be able to enter the Metaverse and do things like attend concerts, fence an Olympic athlete, work virtually, make a universe, and much more. But there are also a large number of downfalls to Metaverse such as it will most likely be highly addictive, you will be experiencing less of reality, and a lot less privacy. The pro con list to Metaverse is pretty equal. Pro: you will be able to attend work meetings in person or appear as an avatar. Con: there isn’t much of a choice if your work decides to be part of Metaverse; then you will have to get on the wagon or jump off.

There is a huge amount of controversy around Metaverse because it signifies the future. There are so many different opinions on whether this is a good thing or bad.

1. There’s so many out there starving and struggling, why not use those 5 billion dollars to help them?
2. This is moving humans in a new direction and allowing for now creative innovations
3. Technology shouldn’t be the only way of life, not wanting to spend all day looking at screens.

Plus, so many other opinions, and none of them are right and none are wrong. Is Metaverse going to be a greatly beneficial or detrimental. What do you think?