Meta's CTO Tells Me They Haven't Walked Away from the Metaverse. Here's Why I'm Not Persuaded.

Read the actual document my guy. One doesn't have to use a specific word for something to be about a thing. Come on. Lol.

— Boz (@boztank) April 27, 2023

Late last night, shortly after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg insisted that the company had not moved away from the Metaverse, I got a similar message via Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth on Twitter.  Who took umbrage with me noting that his December 2022 vision statement did not mention "the Metaverse" even once:

Read the actual document my guy. One doesn't have to use a specific word for something to be about a thing. Come on. Lol.

To which I pointed out that his vision statement is also scant on discussing core metaverse concepts -- only mentioning Meta's virtual world and avatars once in a document nearly 2000 words long. And then saying that Meta's XR technology has "longer-term possibilities unlocked by eye and face tracking technology [that] go far beyond avatars."

I also compared it to Zuckerberg's 2021 statement on Meta's XR vision, in which he mentions "the Metaverse" a dozen times.

Well, thirteen if you include the talk's actual title: "Our vision for the metaverse".

But really, the recent dearth in metaverse mentions by Meta is only one sign the company has collectively moved away from making the Metaverse. Here's several more:

Its metaverse platform Horizon Worlds has few major recent updates and low user growth.

While at the same time (as John Carmack mentioned shortly before leaving the company), competing metaverse platforms Rec Room and VRChat are far more popular with Meta Quest users.

Meta's own staff is not confident leadership can build the Metaverse -- or even explain what it is:

According to a survey conducted last month [December 2022] by Blind, the popular anonymous messaging app for company staff, confidence in the Metaverse and Meta's efforts dropped sharply last year. That's compared to a November 2021 Blind survey where the very same questions were asked.  

To the statement, "I believe Meta will successfully build the metaverse" (above), only 50% of employees answered yes. In November 2021, 77% of staff answered in the affirmative... 56% say their own CEO has not explained [the Metaverse] clearly.

I've consistently gotten reports of shifting priorities and lack of internal focus around its metaverse efforts. 

I hesitate to also say, "read my book" at this point, but, well: Read my book. I tried over several months to interview Bosworth and Zuckerberg for it, but I'm but one wee writer, so I'm sure they had higher priorities.  (Fortunately other people associated with Meta had more than enough time to chat.)

Then again, it's a bit odd that Boz is now taking the time tweeting at me about the Metaverse when we could have talked about it for the book. But ultimately the best way for Meta to demonstrate it still wants to build the Metaverse is by, you know, actually doing it.

My guy. 

Comments

[Martin K.]

Big head wrote:

> One doesn't have to use a specific word for something to be about a thing.

In particular when big head feels free to define the thing in whatever way big head feels like at any given moment.

[Sl_daddy]

> One doesn't have to use a specific word for something to be about a thing.

Then why communicate at all? If you want your words to be taken seriously and with deep thought and intention, maybe talk exactly about what you want to talk about with specific words for "something to be about a thing".

[John M.]

"One doesn't have to use a specific word for something to be about a thing."

-- Sure, if you don't mind being misquoted, misunderstood, and misrepresented about what you said.

[Mondy]

It's almost like certain news sites all focus on the same thing and pick up the same phrases from quoted articles, instead of the original articles and the original quotes, then other sites cherry pick the negatives to try and prove that no one wants VR/AR to succeed and that it's failing.

[RobertBose1]

"my guy", "take the L", "lol". I don't know Boz so maybe speaking like a seventh grader is just his "thing", but as an adult man, I can't help but be both amazed and disappointed to learn that the guy typing those responses is an executive at one of the world's largest companies.

You hit a nerve. Obviously, if things were all pink and rosy in the VR glass of Metaverse's metaverse arm, it would have been a bit easier for Boz to reply with a thoughtful response of why you are "wrong" about the metaverse taking a back seat at Meta.

[Venon]

Agree with RobertBose1. Bosworth was obviously stung, but should know better than to spit the dummy out like an adolescent, in public, in text, immortalized for the world to see and remember.

[Joey1058]

I have a left field opinion, which is unprovable. My take is that Meta did a few of its surveys amongst its regular large advertisers. Most answering that it didn't see a profit in scaling its ads within Meta's vision of the 'verse. Advertising on a forums platform like Facebook is relatively affordable since it's a shotgun approach. The more ads you try to get in a room full of avatars will only chase them away. A few billboard ads that scroll isn't popular either, as the advertisers will have to wait in turn for their ad to scroll in before they can count numbers. I think Meta is letting the pot simmer until they figure out the next ingredient.

[Andwhynot?]

More evidence Hamlet is correct.
'RIP Metaverse', The Business Insider,
https://www.businessinsider.com/metaverse-dead-obituary-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-tech-fad-ai-chatgpt-2023-5?op=1&r=US&IR=T