Noah Esper

Staff Writer

Nle5099@psu.edu

Imagine a world where you can have science class on Mars, where business meetings are held with people across the globe in virtual reality, where you and your friends can hangout anywhere on the Earth and beyond all from the comfort of your living room. While this may sound like something straight out of science fiction, it could become our new reality sooner than you think. And as with any new technology many companies are already racing to be the frontrunner in what will be a lucrative industry, one of the companies hoping to take advantage of this new technological revolution is none other than Facebook, now rebranded as Meta. Facebook recently announced this rebranding accompanied by an ad featuring its founder Mark Zuckerberg showing off a concept for their intended metaverse. 

But what is the metaverse you may ask? The metaverse is believed to be the next evolution in how we access the digital world. The metaverse hopes to incorporate Virtual Reality and Altered Reality technology, not just for entertainment, but for all major functions of day-to-day life. Soon, not only will people be able to use the metaverse to play games, they’ll also be able to attend classes and work all within a digital space. 

Now while I believe this technology holds promise, I do not believe Facebook or any one company, nation, or organization should have complete control over the metaverse. After all, while Facebook does market its meta platform as being user-generated, if any one organization has complete control over the metaverse, then they will have the ability to censor creators who disagree with them and control what should be a free and open space for people to create whatever they want, within reason of course. Which is why instead of supporting Meta, I would recommend lending your support to a more decentralized competitor, Decentraland. 

Decentraland is an already up-and-running digital world that you can currently access based off of block chain technology. Block chain technology is behind many new financial trends, like Crypto Currencies and NFTs, both of which play a crucial part in Decentraland. Also, due to the decentralized nature of the technology, Decentraland isn’t really controlled by any one individual or corporation, and it is truly a digital platform created by users for users. I myself went on to Decentraland for this story, though I’ll admit I’m not an expert when it comes to blockchain and my computer could barely handle running the program. However, I do have some experience in trading crypto currencies as I currently have investments in a few different coins, and while I don’t personally own any NFTs, I have done research into the market and have a general understanding of the technology. NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens are unique digital tokens that exist within the blockchain and provide proof of ownership for the user. The most popular NFTS are of digital images, which can be anything, ranging from original art to dank memes. Within Decentraland, users can trade NFTs within its digital marketplace and even use them as clothing for their unique avatars, which are connected to their crypto wallets. It is my personal belief that even if Decentraland itself isn’t the one to create the metaverse, it does represent what the metaverse should be. An open creative space where users are free to create and explore to their heart’s content, without being controlled by any single organization. A metaverse made by the people for the people.