“When you enter the Metaverse, your avatar is a bit more handsome or prettier than you… and at the end of the night you take off your glasses and go to brush your teeth. And maybe you don’t like yourself that much in the mirror”
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said she was “extremely afraid” of the metaverse. Haugen had publicly shared numerous files about the social media giant, claiming that the company prioritized provocative content over the safety of its users.
She also shared documents suggesting that Instagram makes girls with body problems feel worse, revealing that Facebook has a secret system where high-profile users can break its rules.
It’s the metaverse of all these apps that scares Haugen. Although it does not yet exist as promised, the metaverse is idealized as a virtual space that reflects the real world.
Mark Zuckerberg said that this is the future of his company. Speaking to Time, Haugen used the following statements:
“Come on imagine with me. Your avatar is a bit more handsome or prettier than you when you enter the Metaverse. You have better clothes than we actually have. Your apartment is more stylish, calmer. And at the end of the night, you take off your glasses and go to brush your teeth. And maybe you don’t like yourself that much in the mirror.”
This cycle… I am terribly afraid that people will look at their not-so-beautiful apartments, their not-so-beautiful faces or bodies and say, “I’d rather wear my glasses.” And I haven’t heard Facebook voice any plans for what to do about it.
Haugen also expressed concerns about the inability of individuals to choose whether to have “Facebook sensors” such as microphones in their homes.
Are we supposed to put cameras and microphones in our homes for this company that has already shown that it lies to us whenever its own interests are at stake?
Technology columnist for Bloomberg, Parmy Olson, recently spent two weeks on Meta’s (formerly Facebook) social virtual reality platform Horizon World and expressed her concerns about the space.
“To my left, an adult male avatar with the voice of a clearly younger than 10-year-old boy screamed incessantly obscene,” wrote Olson, “a giant blond man named BabyFace was making strange animal noises.” says that for the people he spoke to, “there’s a constant problem with their social platforms.”
Meta says “trained security professionals” can fetch all the incidents, but Olsen says the lack of clear etiquette bothers her.
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