In today’s episode of IT in Plain English, Tammy Ven Dange answers, “what is the metaverse?”
The word, “metaverse” has been used a lot lately. Facebook has even changed their parent company name to Meta to reflect their future vision in the metaverse.
However, the definition of this word is not standardly used. Neither are its potential benefits nor opportunities fully understood.
In the simplest sense, the metaverse is like a new virtual reality through an emerging set of technologies like the blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens. (I’ll explain these words in other episodes).
Some describe it as a video game where you can interact with other people, businesses and organisations, but as yourself rather than as a fictional character. This means you can buy things and prove your ownership of assets. That’s why companies like Coca-Cola and Nike are jumping in with their own digital products.
While it may feel more like a passing trend (after all you can’t drink a virtual Diet Coke), some Not for Profits are starting to experiment with the metaverse specifically to fundraise.
In reality, the possibilities for the future of the metaverse are not fully envisioned by anyone yet. What is likely is that you’ll continue to hear this word more and more in the next few years.
Therefore, if you’re an innovative organisation, it may be worth exploring opportunities in the metaverse.
So, there you have it in plain English.
If you have an IT question you want answered, feel free to connect with me here on my website or on LinkedIn and send me a message. I just might answer it on this show.
Sign-up here to subscribe to the “Executive with a Cause” newsletter.
Tammy Ven Dange is a former charity CEO, Not for Profit Board Member and IT Executive. Today she helps NFPs with strategic IT and data decisions.