the basics of "meta"

the next frontier for mankind isn't space, but it sure ain't meta either

From the looks of it,

We seem to be more interested in creating better worlds in our devices and on the internet for us to escape to rather than focusing on real world goals that are just as important. As you may have heard, Facebook has officially changed its name to Meta. Where Facebook once owned Instagram, Whatsapp, Oculus, etc., Meta is now the corporate name that encompasses all of the apps in its ecosystem.

Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy. -Mark Zuckerberg

Ok. Imagine this. The movie Ready Player One but in real life. That is what came to mind when I watched the Meta reveal a few days ago. Basically, Meta is Mark Zuckerberg's way to show the world his full commitment when it comes to building the Metaverse. The Metaverse, according to the Meta Website, is the "next evolution of social connection". To be specific, Meta will utilize technology from Oculus to create a metaverse program called Horizon. Horizon that will be a completely submersive and interactive experience where a user can easily create and connect in ways never thought imaginable using virtual and specifically augmented reality.

I will be the first to say

that this all sounds very cool in theory, but you can't help but think of it as quite dystopian when you consider what these brilliant technological advancements have done for us as a society thus far. There is so much that could be said on this topic, but all an individual has to do is really think about how much they are willing to let technology be that much more intertwined with their life and when they do, they realize that it isn't so great of an idea. When you look at it from a humanitarian perspective, the idea that an entire society of people allow this to be the new norm is scary, especially if it can be used to turn us further away from what matters in life. Don't be fooled by his obvious lizard-esq charm and lure of future tech (kidding... or?).

We have a choice to make

when it comes to letting technology have this power over us, and many people are starting to say that that choice is currently presenting itself to us, if it hasn't already. This is precisely why the new Matrix 4 movie is now being marketed as "based on true events" on a new poster for The Matrix Ressurections.

Is this tech advancement inevitable?

Some say yes, some say no. Currently we seem to be leaning more towards the former than the latter. If we were to assume that metaverse technology is inevitable, then it seems only right for certain organizations and companies to try and compete with the likes of Facebook, especially considering how untrustworthy Facebook has proved themselves to be time and time again. The answer for many people is decentralization. A Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or a DAO, has the ability to create their own Metaverses to challenge the likes of Zucky Berg. This could be necessary to ensure that if we are going to take up technology like this, we as users will no longer be looked at as potential $$$. A decentralized metaverse would mean that we would have more of a free and open user experience free of control or influence of any institution or power. This is in no way what Zucky wants.

Lets look at Crypto

If we take a look at some of the altcoins that have gone up over the last 48 hours we see that one of the leading coins also has to do with a metaverse. This is most definitely due to the Meta name change and Zucky's complete attention shift to the metaverse. If you are looking to invest in the future of the metaverse in a way that isn't tied to Meta, take a look at...

Decentraland ($MANA)-

Ethereum token that powers the Decentraland virtual reality platform. MANA can be used to pay for virtual plots of land in Decentraland as well as in-world goods and services. This is by far one of the most interesting decentralized projects in the crypto space. These virtual plots of land are sold as NFT's on the OpenSea Market place for a floor price (lowest selling price/bid) of 2.6 Ethereum at the time of writing this. This means that the cheapest virtual plot of land you can own in Decentraland is about $11,000. The most expensive however goes for a whopping $900,000.

This is said to be one of the biggest competitors to Facebook and that is probably why the price of $MANA pumped all the way from $.70 to $4.30 at the time of writing this. That is gains of over 400% in the matter of a week. I really do think this is an interesting project and I will definitely touch more on it later. For now check out it's site and white paper.

If you would like to invest in the metaverse,

Look out for more updates and info from me on alt coins having to do with decentralized metaverse platforms. Also, be sure to get yourself onto an exchange! I will make a post about the top exchanges to use in a matter of time, but for now if you'd like to use my personal favorite, check out Coinbase. It has always been the safest, fastest, and most convenient exchange with a good amount of coins to look into. Sign up now and peep the price of $MANA and decide for yourself whether or not you'd like to buy in!

Click this icon to join Coinbase and in doing so receive $10 worth of Bitcoin for FREE

To learn more about alt coins check out "what's an alt coin??" I'll be taking a deeper dive into all kinds of stuff in my deeper dive into DeFi column so be sure to stay up to date there for more on #NFTs, #decentralization, #crypto, and #finance.

*this is not financial advise and i am not a financial advisor.