[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #770: Letting Facebook define your metaphorical universe

[OPLIN OPLIN]

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
<http://www.oplin.org/4cast/>
[image: OPLIN 4Cast]

OPLIN 4Cast #770: Letting Facebook define your metaphorical universe
September 29th, 2021

[image: Cyber glasses] Neal Stephenson invented the term "metaverse" for
his 1992 cyberpunk novel *Snow Crash*, envisioning this 3-D virtual space
that is a successor to the internet. I'd nearly forgotten the word until
this week, when Facebook (trying to get a grip on a pretty bad news cycle
for them) made a big announcement about their metaverse investment plans.

   -
   - Building the Metaverse Responsibly
   <https://about.fb.com/news/2021/09/building-the-metaverse-responsibly/>
[*About
   Facebook*] "The 'metaverse' is a set of virtual spaces where you can
   create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space
   as you. You’ll be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop,
   create and more. It's not necessarily about spending more time online —
   it's about making the time you *do* spend online more meaningful."
   - Facebook is spending $50 million to 'responsibly' build the metaverse
   <https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/27/22696578/facebook-metaverse-ar-vr-fund-research-definition>
   [*The Verge*] "Right now, Facebook’s biggest metaverse program is a
   platform called Horizon, which exists as a beta Oculus app that lets people
   have VR meetings."
   - How Facebook’s ‘metaverse’ became a political strategy in Washington
   <https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/24/facebook-washington-strategy-metaverse/>
   [*Washington Post*] "In Facebook’s Washington, D.C., office, the
   metaverse is already a full-on political push: The company is meeting with
   think tanks to discuss the creation of standards and protocols for the
   coming virtual world, enabling Facebook, some say, to turn the conversation
   away from such urgent but distasteful matters as the massive antitrust
   lawsuit filed last year by the Federal Trade Commission."
   - Mark Zuckerberg’s 'Metaverse' Is a Dystopian Nightmare
   <https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/09/facebook-zuckerberg-metaverse-stephenson-big-tech>
   [*Jacobin*] "The Facebook founder intends to usher in a new era of the
   internet where there’s no distinction between the virtual and the real —
   and no logging off."

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Herman, John, and Kellen Browning. “Metaverse Is Having a Virtual
   Moment
   <https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=6FPTS2021071561552523&site=ehost-live>
   .” *Toronto Star (Canada)*, 15 July 2021.
   - Sparkes, Matthew. “What Is a Metaverse
   <https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sch&AN=152010037&site=ehost-live>
   .” *New Scientist*, vol. 251, no. 3348, Aug. 2021, p. 18.
   - Van Houten, Alison, et al. “Building a Metaverse
   <https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=150049756&site=ehost-live>
   .” *TIME Magazine*, vol. 197, no. 17/18, May 2021, p. 83.

------------------------------
The *OPLIN 4cast* is a weekly compilation of recent headlines, topics, and
trends that could impact public libraries. You can subscribe to it in a
variety of ways, such as:

   - *RSS feed.* You can receive the OPLIN 4cast via RSS feed by
   subscribing to the following URL:
   http://www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?feed=rss2.
   - *E-mail.* You can have the OPLIN 4cast delivered via e-mail (a'la
   OPLINlist and OPLINtech) by subscribing to the 4cast mailing list at
   http://lists.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/OPLIN4cast.

© 2021 Ohio Public Library Information Network
[image: Find us on Slideshare] <http://www.slideshare.net/oplin>  [image:
Find us on Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/oplin.org>  [image: Find us
on Google+] <https://plus.google.com/107751358238995507967>  [image: Find
us on Twitter] <http://www.twitter.com/oplin>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.oplin.org/pipermail/oplin4cast/attachments/20210929/fb79e0c8/attachment.htm>