The Metaverse is often hailed as the next big step in the evolution of computing and technology, but there are a lot of unknowns.
It's supposed to be a virtual world that allows users to explore, interact, and engage with each other in ways never before possible.
But is it just a passing fad or is the Metaverse here to stay? And more importantly, do people understand what it is and could be?
To answer these questions, we decided to have a conversation with a specific audience, Gen Z. Instead of running a limited survey, we used Multytude to run a free-flowing conversation, allowing users to talk to each other in a time-limited room.
Why Gen Z
Gen Z represents more than 30% of the global population and are the first truly digital native segment of our society.
They’re also the generation who will most likely live the majority of their lives in this new world so what we build for them needs to be done with them.
We need to learn from our past mistakes during the current evolution of the Internet, where things were built by a small segment of society leading to digital inequality, human biassed algorithms and more.
Main Takeaways
Below are the main takeaways from the free-flowing conversation we had with this audience on our app.
- Gen Z expectations of the Metaverse are limited by their current imagination of what’s possible.
- There’s immense confusion among Gen Z between web 3.0, the metaverse and cryptocurrency concepts.
- Majority of Gen Z don’t want a ‘Facebook only’ Metaverse.
- Shopping is expected to be the first to adapt to this world, and a full replica of the physical shopping experience is expected.
- Gen Z would rather have their avatars be a representation of their real selves rather than a completely different identity.
- They project the ills of current social media onto the Metaverse so they’re concerned about bullying, trolling and scams.
- There’s concern about getting addicted to the Metaverse & ignoring one’s physical reality.
In summary, privacy, social and psychological safety, a hybrid transitional human experience, respect, convenience, diversity, more representation and availability of technology alongside a boundless level of creativity is what we need to make the Metaverse beyond the next iteration of the Internet.
The above post is based on research done by Multytude, a comments analysis and community insights company.
To download the free report which includes opportunities and innovation directions for brands in light of these findings, please click here.
