What is it?
“In 2020, one thing became very obvious, very quickly, as COVID-19 began to spread around the world: we leapfrogged five to seven years in the digital revolution,” Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon, said during his keynote at CES 2021 in January. During lockdown physical contact was replaced with online presence. At its peak, Zoom had more than 300 million daily virtual meeting participants.
Even as COVID-19 restrictions start to ease and many seek to return to old ways of working, our lives and our communities have been fundamentally altered. The virtual domain has become an all-encompassing space where business, retail, education, entertainment, wellness, work and community can be created, accessed and nurtured.
As people spend more time online, digital spaces are becoming the new hangouts, hot spots and hubs. Welcome to the Metaverse.
“The smartphone is no longer just a device that we use, It’s become the place where we live.”
Daniel Miller, professor of anthropology at University College London.
Why should I care?
The metaverse, a term first coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash, is a blending of digital and physical existence. It’s more than just life online - it’s the blurring of interactions that boundary the physical and digital world.
Our habits, beliefs, communities and tribes from the physical world have an extension into the digital realm - the metaverse. But in this space they are more than the sum of their original IRL parts.
“When you’re born, you don’t choose who you are, but in the virtual world you’re starting from scratch.” Sébastien Borget, cofounder of The Sandbox
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NEW SPACES TO BUILD COMMUNITY
Games like Animal Crossing and Fortnite have become places for people to meet and socialise. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of UK adults played games with friends and family to stay in touch during lockdown, according to a May 2021 survey from Xbox.
When the doors of clubs were closed in March 2020, marginalised communities found new ways to connect and thrive by creating online spaces. Events like Queer House Party, initiated during lockdown, are now transitioning their events into new hybrid IRL parties whilst maintaining their mantra of “accessible, radical, DIY and punk AF.”
Nowhere is a new social networking platform which places people in 3D environments that range from forests to an island in the sky. Jon Morris, CEO of Nowhere, describes the platform as “the first online event space where you can truly be present, whether feeling the raw energy of a virtual performance or serendipitously vibing with a stranger you just met.”
Facebook Horizon, currently in beta mode, aims to be a “VR social experience” where explorers play, build, and create together. And Microsoft Mesh uses mixed reality to create interconnected worlds allowing people in different physical locations to be together in real-time via holographic experiences.
FINDING YOUR TRIBE
Since their inception, forums have often provided a space to find like-minded people and share one’s deepest thoughts. Now, there is a forum for pretty much any and every shared concern or passion. From forums for people to collectively investigate unsolved crimes to pro-choice suicide forums to spaces for chemical experimenters to share experiences of psychedelic drug use, there are a vast number of communities being built and maintained in these spaces for increasingly niche interests.
Social networks like TikTok (which reached two billion downloads worldwide in 2020) are giving creators a platform to connect. TikTok Ballet is a community of dancers (and creators) on TikTok who are opening up the conversation around the harsh realities of ballet through ironic and dark humour.
“It’s a very Gen-Z way of dealing with issues that are difficult to talk about,” Akamine said. “As you’re laughing, you’re realizing that you’re not the only one struggling, and that the problems you’re dealing with are problems in the whole ballet community, not just your life. (The New York Times)
BUILDING INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES
These streamers are changing the game for less able-bodied players by building their own communities to make the world of gaming more accessible to all.
- DeafGamerTV began speaking out on behalf of deaf or hard-of-hearing users
- Obstrattlehead, a high-level gamer who happens to also be blind, hosts streams which “provide a welcoming space to help non-disabled gamers engage and become more comfortable with learning alongside the disabled community” and runs a tournament for blind and low-vision players
- MiketheQuad focuses on showcases “adaptive gaming” and is encouraging more inclusive design in the gaming world
“With the use of a hashtag as a movement, people realise you get a sense of community and a sense of validation.”
Jessi Gold, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine
FUELLING RADICAL IDEOLOGIES
In recent years we have seen a concerning rise in far-right extremism.
Unregulated forums like 4chan have famously birthed and fuelled radical ideologies, white nationalist groups recruiting young Internet users, algorithms driving impressionable people towards radicalisation, the cosmic right (QAnon et al) and a single instagram post sparking a far-right, anti-trans riot in LA.
“Online communities change the ground rules of human interaction, enabling unprecedented social experiences with unpredictable impacts on malleable minds. …[they] can facilitate the spread of misinformation and extremist ideologies."
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LIMINAL SPACES
Games are evolving into virtual venues that offer a new space to imagine events and experiences. For example, in November 2020, Lil Nas X held a concert on Roblox with 33 million viewers. But alongside the rise of fully virtual, extended reality (XR) is creating a new category of blended events, built equally around digital and physical elements - liminal spaces.
In March 2021, the Royal Shakespeare Company staged Dream. Inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the production was a digital interactive performance featuring live actors. The immersive show incorporated light and technology to transform the actors on stage and bring the audience into the production for an almost game-like experience. Audience members could participate as fireflies, as the actors colluded in a nonlinear storyline production, offering a new formula for blended performances.
The metaverse even extends into the realm of politics. even stepping. On June 10th, New York City Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang held a press conference for potential voters via the platform ZEPETO. Speaking to the platform’s 90% Gen Z audience.
SOCIAL GOOD IN THE METAVERSE
- Club Quarantine, a free online club night had, alongside typical Zoom features, a donation system via the club’s digital bar, supporting “various organizations benefiting social, political, and environmental causes”.
- Gamers have been speedrunning for charity and a Twitch streamer raised $15,000 for LGBTQ+ charity by playing Sims 4
- Bliss partnered with the Trevor Project to run a TikTok campaign where for every positive comment made by a user, they donated $1 as well as hosting online conversations opening up dialogue around mental health in the LGBTQ+ community
- In the wake of George Floyd’s murder we saw a wave of (relatively short-lived and surface-level) online activism, but this was underpinned by a huge network of activists building a knowledge base and communicating through “Google Drive, Signal, Messenger, Slack, or other combinations of software, for collaboration, information storage, resource access, and daily communications.” Rachel Kuo, an organiser and scholar of digital activism.
So What?
1. EXPLORE - GO TO YOUR SUPPORTERS:
Whether it’s socialising, work or play, we’re finding new ways and new spaces to connect and build relationships through the internet. The rise of the metaverse (interactive spaces where users can connect with each other) is driving demand for immersion. How and where are your supporters connecting and what would it look like to have a presence in these spaces?
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2. CONSIDER - INCOME GENERATION IN THE METAVERSE:
Consumers are replicating their physical daily habits in the virtual realm - assigning a growing value to digital assets. As we’ve mentioned before (in redefining ownership), as digital ownership rises, consider the opportunity for both fundraising & retail in the metaverse. What would going direct to avatar mean for your retail and trading offer?
3. INNOVATE - LIMINAL SPACES:
As the technology to deliver hybrid events becomes increasingly affordable and accessible, how and where can you develop crossover opportunities to bring the IRL online and vice versa? How can you create immersive experiences that bring your mission and cause to life?