Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Contiguous identities: The virtual self in the supposed Metaverse

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

To day, in order to use Facebook (aka Meta) VR technology (for example, Oculus) you have to sign uo with a Facebook account. What are the implications of this? This paper examples the issue and argues "the virtual self currently being forged in Meta forms a connective tissue between (1) early accounts of online communication enabling the body to be left behind and (2) more embodied approaches to identity in the context of digitality" and thus "the virtual self is not a singular entity per se but forms a contiguous connection between the lived experience of VR and data gathered through social media about the identity associated with said experience." This connection between social and virtual identity will become more significant over time, and issues related to Facebook's role in shaping that identity will become more pressing over time. As the authors suggest, "very little in Meta's history suggest that choices will be made that benefit users' freedoms and privacy over shareholders' interests." Image: CNBC.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 28, 2024 2:04 p.m.

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