Metaverse – A New Social Network for Content Creators?

Introduction.

The term “metaverse” is widely used nowadays to refer to a variety of mixed realities that allow simultaneous access to a multitude of users and enable real-time interaction among them. As a result, the term itself has become inflated and its meaning unclear.

From a technical standpoint, a metaverse can be defined as a platform that utilizes a set of technologies and social communication channels to identify a shared internet-based, multi-user space. It offers users the ability to build virtual worlds that simulate real-life, interactive, engaging, and collaborative experiences, expanding the boundaries of reality and economic life.

The metaverse connects virtual worlds with people through the use of avatars that represent the real intentions of users, driving all social, economic, and cultural activities within it.

In my opinion, the metaverse truly comes into its own when referring to virtual spaces that are shared and co-created by the users themselves. Each user is free to participate as a consumer or as a producer of environments, objects, and experiences, contributing to the creation of a genuine virtual ecosystem made by users for users. This promotes cooperation and co-creation of content.

Before getting to the point, one last clarification is necessary.

While the integration of blockchain technology into this model is not essential, the difference between a traditional model and one that incorporates blockchain logic and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that the latter defines ownership of the virtual resources created and exchanged within the ecosystem. This effectively assigns an economic value to these resources.

Moreover, it enables the creation of an internal economy where investments of various kinds can be made, transactions can be conducted, and digital assets can be exchanged without the involvement of third parties. It eliminates the constraints of resource allocation, as NFTs are no longer confined to a specific digital ecosystem and can continue to be traded and have perpetual existence regardless of the existence of the native platform. This is not achievable within a traditional system.

In other words, it represents an in-game transposition of real-world dynamics characterized by maximum interaction, sharing, interoperability (which is being worked on), composability, and social experience.

This environment, as described, can be compared to a social network where users express themselves through their avatars.

Emerging Issues.

Making one final observation, we note that we have transitioned from a system where information asymmetries favored economic agents at the expense of end consumers to a system where, with technological development and the advent of the internet, anyone with a smartphone has access to any type of information. Not to mention social media, where an infinite amount of information is created and disseminated, bombarding users without any filters.

The result of this process is an overload of information, an “information overload,” where there is an excess of information, much of which is redundant and conflicting, leading to confusion, paralysis, stress, anxiety, and an inability to manage it. This is because it is difficult to select, understand, and compare the overwhelming amount of information.

This phenomenon is not solely due to exponential technological advancement but is exacerbated by individuals themselves, who tend to follow more sources than they can actually keep up with.

This phenomenon strongly affects the role of content creators, who aim to effectively communicate a specific message to the public. They utilize various multimedia tools such as texts, images, videos, and audio, and currently rely on different communication channels and social platforms. This diversity of content and transmission methods arises from the existence of different platforms and applications, each designed for the publication of specific types of media and targeting its own clientele.

For content creators, this translates into the need to adapt their presentations to different platforms to reach the widest possible audience spread across various social channels. Considering that individuals who follow a content creator because they are interested in their content tend to follow them on all social platforms where they are active, it highlights the issue of redundant concepts being presented. In other cases, when attempting to present different content on different platforms instead of adapting the content, the result is twofold: extreme information dispersion for users who become disoriented and unable to keep up with everything published on different media channels, and from a producer’s perspective, an extreme dispersion of users.

How Could the Metaverse Solve These Problems?

Due to its intrinsic freedom and composability, the metaverse offers several opportunities for the creation of thematic social networks. These virtual spaces represent meeting points for users with shared interests, bringing innovation to the dissemination of information and providing opportunities for organizations and content creators working in these areas.

It represents a new means of communication and an evolution of current social networks, effectively benefiting the target audience and content producers.

By entering this virtual ecosystem within a thematic environment, content creators have the opportunity to easily distribute their material in any form they desire, with almost infinite visibility potential. Users no longer need to follow multiple pages and download different platforms to stay updated; they have access to all their areas of interest in one space, becoming a new point of reference.

The creation of these thematic virtual areas can be seen as the representation of categorized virtual places, where individuals, companies, and entities operating in a particular sector can import their own reality, such as their website, and develop it three-dimensionally with virtual graphics. They can also present their own content without limitations in terms of dissemination and sale methods.

Advantages of Blockchain Technology:

A model of this kind allows the categorization of information of interest at the source. Individuals have the ability to enter a network of their interest, develop synergies, gather easily comparable information, and thus more easily select high-quality information. On the other hand, businesses and organizations operating in the sector have access to virtually unlimited and highly targeted user traffic, as it converges a group of individuals with similar interests in a specific area. This is promoted by all those actively contributing to the creation of the main network, fostering mechanisms of cooperation and co-creation.

A metaverse that utilizes blockchain and non-fungible tokens promotes free initiative, the creation and publication of copyrighted content, direct sale of products and services to users. It also opens up new types of incentives and engagement for communities by using gamification and innovative entertainment approaches, occasionally establishing connections with reality to strengthen the bond and loyalty of their followers.

Moreover, the opportunities for content producers to profit from their activities are amplified. For example, they can benefit from creating advertising spaces that are incentivized and valued by the existence of a hub of individuals gathered mostly due to shared interests. This provides businesses with the possibility to promote themselves in a targeted environment using innovative communication, marketing, and advertising tools. These tools leverage in-game logic, making them less intrusive for users and capable of attracting more attention.

For businesses, it is a thriving market that is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, and the opportunities that can be seized by entering this ecosystem are countless.

Chiara Valentini