The metaverse will bring new forms of toxicity and requires new tools
As the adoption of the metaverse approaches, one factor that seems like an inevitability is toxic behavior. Such behavior is unfortunately prolific in online communities now. The behaviors will likely carry forward to the metaverse, if not always in the same way. Several experts on online safety spoke about the topic at GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming’s Into the Metaverse 2 event.
The panel consisted of Tiffany Xingyu Wang, chief strategy and marketing officer of Spectrum Labs; Laura Higgins, director of community safety and civility at Roblox; and Rachel Franklin SVP of Positive Play at Electronic Arts. They covered what toxicity in the metaverse will look like, and how companies might prevent it.
Wang said that the behavior in the metaverse could potentially be worse in the metaverse: “I think the attributes that draw people to the metaverse present as much potential as dangers. We talk about immersiveness, which would amplify the impact of toxicity. We talk about persistence, which would drive the velocity or the lead time to toxicity. We talk about the realization of fantasized selves, which would increase the exposure of potential disruptive behaviors.”
One factor, all the panelists concurred, was that metaverse experiences must be built with safety and positivity in mind. Higgins said, “It’s really hard to retrofit safety once things are already out in the open. It’s much better to build with those things in place right from the beginning. People need to now thing differently if they’re building experiences for the metaverse.”
Three top investment pros open up about what it takes to get your video game funded.
Franklin concurred, and said that the tools to protect oneself in the metaverse will be especially important.
Read more on venturebeat.com
