The metaverse adds a feeling of presence to the internet
The metaverse has meant different things throughout its young history. In 1992, Neal Stephenson coined the term “metaverse” in his science fiction novel Snow Crash. In a dystopian society, a virtual world is built that provides hope to young people (a premise highly similar to the 2018 movie Ready Player One). Because in 1992 Neal Stephenson could not yet imagine the internet with its dominant tech companies, his metaverse is a single virtual world, ruled by a single organization.
In recent years, the metaverse has become a popular term, driven by publications of the essayist Matthew Ball (co-creator of the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF). Yet as Ben Thompson argues on his blog Stratechery, all Ball’s criteria for the metaverse already apply to the internet, with the major difference between the two being the potential to add a feeling of presence for users, based on technologies like VR.