It took Facebook for most people to hear about the metaverse. While the term has been a buzzword for a few years now, it was only talked about by enthusiasts, early adopters and tech-savvy people.
Facebook took that a notch higher by changing their name to Meta, and detailing exactly what they think the metaverse will be and how they will built it.
Now that there is some sort of awareness in the general public, most people do not want Facebook anywhere close to the metaverse.
A poll commissioned by Advokate Group, an NFT and metaverse infrastructure provider, found that 87% of Americans want a decentralized metaverse. When Facebook/Meta was singled out, 77% shared concerns, particularly when it comes to user data.
Facebook is already under attack from all sides, with user data and privacy being one of the major concerns. Efforts by the company to launch the stablecoin Diem previously Libra, were already thwarted.
It is worth noting that the metaverse is not a single entity. Any person or group can build their own metaverse, and certainly Facebook is pursuing that.
Major metaverses in operation right now include Decentraland and The Sandbox.
The general public was also found to be a bit skeptical when it comes to how quick the adoption will be. 20% of respondents said it could take 1 or 2 years, while 49% said it could take 3 to 6 years.
Currently, the best use case for a metaverse is Play 2 Earn (P2E) games, which reward players with tokens that can be converted into real money on various Decentralized exchanges (DEX).
93% of respondents said they would spend more time playing games, if it could earn them minimum wage. 87% would even consider switching to games full time if the pay was good.
