Metaverse from Zuckerberg? Not fairly. Perceive what this universe actually is and the way it impacts your methods

As you’ve probably heard over the past month an internal document leak has now brought Facebook into a major crisis, as the company has been heavily criticized for its handling of complex and effective topics.

Internal staff accused Facebook of only caring about its image and profits, and kept their eyes closed when it came to sensitive issues on the platform.

And then, out of nowhere and after all this chaos, Mark Zuckerberg announced a huge rebranding for Facebook. From now on the company is called “Meta”.

In his Video start, Meta presented the “Metaverse”.

While we waited for answers, the rebranding announcement only raised more questions:

What is the point of this renaming? Is Zuckerberg really the pioneer in bringing the metaverse to the internet?

Could meta really have a massive impact on the future of the internet?

And most importantly, how could this crisis affect us, marketers and managers who rely on Zuckerberg’s platforms to get our own results?

Avoid the clutter and focus on the metaverse

While it wasn’t clear how the rebranding would help users with the issues raised in the Facebook Papers, Zuckerberg was determined to build a positive and technological image around the new brand.

What we know so far about Meta: The new brand will be more closely linked with Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, which will lead to a further level of interaction between people and social technologies.

The rebranding came quickly: There is a new logo and this has already been implemented by Meta in the apps, including WhatsApp and Instagram.

Metaverse can be seen as the next generation of the immersive internet. For Meta this means that the change also leads to the evolution of the products, as they come into a completely new reality.

With Metaverse, users could enter a virtual world where they create avatars, chat, meet friends, buy virtual things with cryptocurrency and so on …

But before we talk about what this metaverse is and if (or how) it affects your brand, let’s take a step back.

Is Metaverse a 2021 innovation?

The answer is no: Facebook wasn’t the first company to merge Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality (VR / AR).

If we look back on our interactions with the technologies available to us, AI, VR and AR have slowly made their way into our everyday lives.

We can start by talking about games and then talking about personal assistants like Siri or Google Assistant. We also have AR on Instagram, Google Search, and lots of other options. There are also VR glasses that are used in different situations.

But was Facebook at least the first company to explore the metaverse?

Again, the answer is no. The Metaverse is something that existed before Meta (Facebook).

This April will be Epic Games announced a $ 1 billion financing round to aid Epic’s long-term vision for the Metaverse.

And they’re not the only company that has been on the Metaverse for a while.

Artur Sychov, the founder of Somnium Space (a metaverse used by more than 1,000 people every day) said: Global news that Facebook seems to be seizing the opportunity to blend in with something that has already happened.

This could be a strategy not only to deviate from the latest events, but also to gain market leadership early on in order to be considered a “pioneer” on the Metaverse. But they are not.

Is Meta an attempt to leave Facebook’s problems behind?

When Meta was announced, Zuckerberg made no reference to the public relations issues the company was facing.

Now it seems that Meta (the company) stopped avoiding the conversation and took some steps e.g. Remove thousands of sensitive ad targeting options and implementation of warning screens to discourage posts and comments that might be perceived as bullying and harassment.

What we can say for sure is that only the CEO will have the real answer to this question and we will never know when he is bluffing.

However, even Zuckerberg cannot deny that the company has gone through some intense organizational and operational problems.

The increasing discussions on these issues damaged their credibility due to the complexity of the situation.

You long to be the first company in the Metaverse. They are trying to do this not just by changing strategies, but by introducing a new brand while the company is going through one of the worst confidence crises. This is not a coincidence.

What about the users and networks?

In terms of the future of technology and social networks, meta can certainly lead an evolution. This is especially true when the Metaverse technology developed by other companies over the years is combined with the powerful impact that Zuckerberg’s platforms still have on society.

This can also have an impact on our marketing in the future.

The more interactions take place in a virtual world, the more this could lead to social changes in the future.

People can start spending more time in a different reality. Their daily habits, behavior and consumption can also be influenced.

Another point is the increasing presence of smart devices (IOT), such as watches and other gadgets, which combine reality with the virtual – and at the same time collect personal data.

As a marketer, is it time for you to think about the metaverse?

It is good to be aware of these changes, especially if the dialogue often revolves around these issues.

It’s too early to say what changes the Metaverse (and Zuckerberg’s other brands) could bring and how users and consumers will behave in the face of it.

So, Here are some potential challenges for marketers and managers in the years to come:

Meta promises to bring a whole new world of virtual possibilities in which people can act exactly as they want in this new reality. But don’t forget: we still exist outside of it.

Changes in consumer behavior always pose challenges for marketers (especially if we assume that consumers are now present in two different realities).

A new channel means a new way of acquiring customers, but also requires new metrics, which in this case can also be translated into new challenges.

The way in which content is created for a new platform can also change. Instead of just blog posts, e-books and white papers, in the virtual world we will be heavily connected to interactive experiences, be it through AR, VR or any other online source of interaction.

Interactive content is something we’ve talked about for a while, and you can learn more here.

How are other companies reacting?

Former Google CEO Eric Scmidt commented on Business Insider a real concern about the increasing use of AI in our daily lives. His concerns relate not only to security issues, but also to social issues. Because the digital world can be based on a perfect image that does not always correspond to reality.

Elon Musk is another person who has stated that they don’t trust the AI ​​very much. So much so that he doesn’t even rate his trust in AI very highly for Tesla.

However, Microsoft is on the right track with the Metaverse, but in an easier way. They plan to launch their version of a virtual world within teams meetings in 2022, like this The edge.

The idea seems simpler. People will be able to have more interactive meetings. Meetings where it is possible to immerse yourself in 3D rooms with avatars that express themselves according to the character of the real person.

With Microsoft getting on board in this new era, we can expect some other players to join the trend very soon as well.

Make the most of this confusion in your strategies

With all of these updates on Facebook and Meta, it is up to us as marketers and business owners to keep ourselves updated on the topics that could affect our brands, positive or negative, and to learn from any situation. What we can conclude from this is:

1. Social networks have proven time and again to be unsafe terrain to seed your business.

Yes, having an engaged audience on social media that you love is a great strategy. However, you need to be careful if your brand is wholly (or partially) based on meta-platforms (or even other social platforms).

Consider building audiences, diversifying your content, and reaching more people on your own platforms (here at Rock Content we have multiple contents to help you with this!).

2. Technology changes. Fast.

Early or late, on purpose or by accident, the metaverse has slowly become part of our daily lives. Whether augmented reality for the camera systems of our smartphones or the glasses that companies use to create immersive experiences, we dive into this type of technology.

Meta was created in a premature market, but we know the trend is there – and growing. Successful marketers know how to keep an eye on market trends.

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