In October 2021, Facebook announced that its parent company would be renamed Meta, with a plan to build "the metaverse". The word suddenly appeared in news, advertising and school corridors. What does it mean?
The idea
The metaverse is a name for shared, always-on digital spaces where people can meet, play, learn, work and buy things, usually through avatars, which are digital versions of ourselves. Virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality (AR), which places digital objects into the real world through a phone or glasses, are the main ways to step inside.
What actually exists
Today, the closest examples are online games and virtual worlds where millions of people gather, plus VR headsets used for gaming, training and design. There is no single "metaverse" that you can log in to. Companies are building separate spaces, and how much of this will matter in daily life is still uncertain.
What parents can do
- Ask what children are playing. Many online worlds let strangers talk to each other. Know which features your child uses.
- Use the safety settings. Chat limits, privacy controls and spending limits exist for a reason.
- Encourage making, not only consuming. Building a simple game or 3D object teaches far more than wandering through someone else's world.
Technology trends come and go, but the skills underneath them, such as logic, design and problem solving, stay useful.