Metaverse - the new megatrend of the platform economy? 

Metaverse is currently Silicon Valley's biggest bet (next to space conquest and autonomous cars). Mark Zuckerberg wants to transform Facebook into a "Metaverse Company." Innovative gaming companies like Roblox let their users build their own Metaverse, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella even thinks the "enterprise Metaverse" is swell.

At Roblox alone, users spent 10 billion hours in this gaming world in the first quarter. So is the metaverse the next big thing? Zuckerberg is fascinated by the idea and is completely gearing Facebook toward it. At least Google and Apple aren't occupying the top spots again in this new world. And evil regulators, who just want to dismantle his earthly empire, don't exist there either (yet).

The metaverse approach is based on the concept of establishing the interactions of the real world or a specific use case in a virtual environment as close to reality as possible and, if necessary, with its own economic system. This allows us to interact, talk, play and do business with each other in the Metaverse with the help of our avatars. If you're thinking of Second Live now, you're not entirely wrong: virtual/augmented reality should additionally provide the appropriate visuals; the blockchain (or something similar) for trust.

This is exactly where Facebook comes in. The two-dimensional approaches of its platforms Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp with several billion users form the basis for building a metaverse environment. The Creator and Experience Community approaches it has announced are one of the many components on this path. The goal envisions more impressions being created and gained through the use of AR/VR devices. However, at present, the use of AR/VR glasses is still quite a costly niche for the masses, which still needs tremendous development (downsizing and cheaper acquisition costs) to spread.

Therefore, Zuckerberg has already admitted that there will only be a hybrid approach between the real world and its future Metaverse. What remains questionable is the future of the corporation and the changes it will need to make, given the various privacy and data security scandals the corporation has faced in recent years. It is possible that Facebook will not be able to fix its business model itself and will be more dependent on outside help, as the authors of "An Ugly Truth" Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang, among others, describe in their latest book.

Ariana Grande's concert in Fortnite provides a foretaste.

Must-Reads:

⇢ Mark in the Metaverse (Zuckerberg explains his Metaverse plans in a long interview).

⇢ The Metaverse: What It Is, Where to Find it, Who Will Build It. By Matthew Ball.

⇢ The Metaverse Primer: Matthew Ball explains the Metaverse in 9 chapters.

⇢ As Coca-Cola Auctions Its First NFT, More Brands Are Entering The Metaverse (Forbes)

The author and/or related persons or companies may own the shares mentioned herein or are already invested in these shares, e.g. via an investment vehicle. This article is for general information purposes only and constitutes a free expression of opinion and not investment advice. Please also note the detailed legal information.

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