Facebook stock crashed today, almost 30%. Since Facebok is a massive company (around 700 biliion dollars, the loss is massive. It's drop has sent shockwaves in the stock market, tanking tech stocks and market in general.
The crash was a result of poor numbers by Facebook. New membership has stalled, and people are engaging in less time on FB. Apple has prevented Faceook from accessing private information without user permission, and this has affected FB dramatically. But one other important reason is that Facebook's mission has changed. And what follows is very imporant.
As some of you may know, Facebook has changed it's name recently to Meta. It's focus from now on is not social media, but creating the "metaverse." This is the future of the internet. The metaverse is essentially a virtual world. Think of it as something between the real world and the matrix. In this virtual world, you will essentially live out a virtual life, interacting with friends located in different corners of the world, as if you were all there. Instead of the 2D avatars that we see next to our screen name today, you will bascially controlling a 3D avatar that represents you.
It will affect all areas of live. People will be working remotely, and meetings will be 3D and virtual, making interaction much more realistic. Same goes for school and education. But Facebook is not the only company being involved. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and many other tech companies are now in the process of developing the metaverse.
The metaverse, of course, is going to be a way for companies to make money. And what follows is insane. Bascially, people will be paying for virtual items much like in the real world. For example, in a virtual city, you can buy plots of land, and build virtual houses. You can decorate the items with virtual good, purchased at virutal stores. This is where Wal-Mart and Amazon are involved. They are already in the process of enabling this. The land can be even rented out. Recently, a plot of virtual land sold for millios of dollars.
The metaverse will have a thriving economy, ecaclty like the real world. There will be an exchange of goods and services for money. And the format of this money? Cryptocurrency. The metaverse will run on blockchain tecnhology, specifically Ethereum.
Today, people are paying millions of dollars to own digitail work (for example art or videos). These are called NFTs, basically certificates that prove you own a unique digital work. Since it so easy to copy a digital file of a picture of art, just like it is easy to create a fake Mona Lisa, there needs to be a unique identifier that proves that the work is the original one and who iti is owned by.
In this virtual world, for example, you and your friends can travel in a virutal airplane, and interact. Then land in Paris, visit a museum and see a virtual art gallery. Each of these experiences would cost money.
People who create and design virtual goods that are in demand will get paid for their services. A woman whow wants to buy a virtual Chanel handbag, for example can purchase it, and it is theirs.
The metaverse will have different "worlds" created by different companies. But the thing is, goods that you buy will be compatible in all worlds. So, if you buy a tennis racket in one world, you can take it with you in another and use it.
It is not qutie like the matrix, but is halfway between. The thing is, that this has been in development for some time. It will be about five to ten years before we see some early versions of it. But if you remember when the interent first came out, and where we are tody, you can easiily see that with time it will grown and flourish.
The big concern for many is that Facebook will be the most prominent player in the game. It has close to 3 billion users, and it has shown time and time again that Mark Zuckerberg put profit above the well being of its users. It has taken private information of users without their knowledge, encouraged fake information about COVID to be spread to incrase engagement and profits, and has shown a reckless disregard for their well being. They want you to spend as much time on Facebook so they can make more money. FB will definitely encourage the young generation to live out and waste their time and money on worthless virtual goods so they can rake in millions. Internet addiction is already a problem, with many young people hooked to their phones, games, and social media. Sadly, the virutal world will be even more addicting.
The crash was a result of poor numbers by Facebook. New membership has stalled, and people are engaging in less time on FB. Apple has prevented Faceook from accessing private information without user permission, and this has affected FB dramatically. But one other important reason is that Facebook's mission has changed. And what follows is very imporant.
As some of you may know, Facebook has changed it's name recently to Meta. It's focus from now on is not social media, but creating the "metaverse." This is the future of the internet. The metaverse is essentially a virtual world. Think of it as something between the real world and the matrix. In this virtual world, you will essentially live out a virtual life, interacting with friends located in different corners of the world, as if you were all there. Instead of the 2D avatars that we see next to our screen name today, you will bascially controlling a 3D avatar that represents you.
It will affect all areas of live. People will be working remotely, and meetings will be 3D and virtual, making interaction much more realistic. Same goes for school and education. But Facebook is not the only company being involved. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and many other tech companies are now in the process of developing the metaverse.
The metaverse, of course, is going to be a way for companies to make money. And what follows is insane. Bascially, people will be paying for virtual items much like in the real world. For example, in a virtual city, you can buy plots of land, and build virtual houses. You can decorate the items with virtual good, purchased at virutal stores. This is where Wal-Mart and Amazon are involved. They are already in the process of enabling this. The land can be even rented out. Recently, a plot of virtual land sold for millios of dollars.
The metaverse will have a thriving economy, ecaclty like the real world. There will be an exchange of goods and services for money. And the format of this money? Cryptocurrency. The metaverse will run on blockchain tecnhology, specifically Ethereum.
Today, people are paying millions of dollars to own digitail work (for example art or videos). These are called NFTs, basically certificates that prove you own a unique digital work. Since it so easy to copy a digital file of a picture of art, just like it is easy to create a fake Mona Lisa, there needs to be a unique identifier that proves that the work is the original one and who iti is owned by.
In this virtual world, for example, you and your friends can travel in a virutal airplane, and interact. Then land in Paris, visit a museum and see a virtual art gallery. Each of these experiences would cost money.
People who create and design virtual goods that are in demand will get paid for their services. A woman whow wants to buy a virtual Chanel handbag, for example can purchase it, and it is theirs.
The metaverse will have different "worlds" created by different companies. But the thing is, goods that you buy will be compatible in all worlds. So, if you buy a tennis racket in one world, you can take it with you in another and use it.
It is not qutie like the matrix, but is halfway between. The thing is, that this has been in development for some time. It will be about five to ten years before we see some early versions of it. But if you remember when the interent first came out, and where we are tody, you can easiily see that with time it will grown and flourish.
The big concern for many is that Facebook will be the most prominent player in the game. It has close to 3 billion users, and it has shown time and time again that Mark Zuckerberg put profit above the well being of its users. It has taken private information of users without their knowledge, encouraged fake information about COVID to be spread to incrase engagement and profits, and has shown a reckless disregard for their well being. They want you to spend as much time on Facebook so they can make more money. FB will definitely encourage the young generation to live out and waste their time and money on worthless virtual goods so they can rake in millions. Internet addiction is already a problem, with many young people hooked to their phones, games, and social media. Sadly, the virutal world will be even more addicting.