When Zuckerberg announced Horizon Worlds not really all that long ago [at a batshit livestream in October 2021](https://www.vice.com/en/article/zuckerberg-facebook-new-name-meta-metaverse-presentation/?ref=404media.co), I wrote an article called “Zuckerberg Announces Fantasy World Where Facebook Is Not a Horrible Company.” During that livestream Zuckerberg said, “I believe technology can make our lives better. The future will be built by those willing to stand up and say ‘this is the future we want.’” The future Zuckerberg wanted, at that time, was not a future anyone else wanted. But he was bold enough to systematically light roughly [$80 billion on fire](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-threw-77-billion-143014208.html?ref=404media.co), not because he was willing to stand up and paint a vision of the future, but because Facebook was mired in various horrendous scandals and because he needed to rebrand his company and needed something shiny to point at to keep Facebook’s stock price up. It is bad when actual economists [say that money was thrown “into the toilet](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-threw-77-billion-143014208.html?ref=404media.co).”
The complete and utter failure of the metaverse is a reminder not just of the fact that the future Silicon Valley is force feeding us is not inevitable, but that quite often these oligarchs quite simply cannot relate to real people, don’t know how or why people use their products, and very often have no idea what they’re doing.
How much do you think, in relative terms, it cost to build the Great Pyramid?
PollyPocketpussy5000 on
Imagine the difference that money could’ve made if it were put into something actually worthwhile and helpful to humanity. Man, no wonder aliens avoid us.
Puzzled-Ad1564 on
Whenever Zuckerberg fails, I get happy
lilyroses2020 on
This is a good reminder much of the unpopular technology they keep trying to force on us under the guise of it being ‘inevitable’ is just BS aimed at protecting *their* massive investments into tech no one asked for. We can and should keep refusing all of it.
Graceandbeauty1979 on
I remind people about this when talking about the AI hype. Like, remember six years ago when we were told we would just live as avatars in another dimension, lol? AI will never be our new reality either.
SallyJones17 on
Wait, I thought it died a long time ago? Someone check on (well rub it in the face of) Mark Z….
Sufficient_Ask5717 on
These nerds don’t deserve to be as wealthy as they are
topscreen on
This was largely a push from Zuck, and was advised not to. So he’s directly responsible for burning billions in cash and thousands of jobs. He’s the anti-employee of the month. He’s the anti-employee of all time.
Think of all the good that could have been done in this world
Or at least $80 Billion worth of Taco Bell
Some_Conference2091 on
Imagine if this money had been invested in making Facebook a product worth using.
welivedintheocean on
Let us never forget that when Ethan Klein first logged on, his instinct was to emulate sexual assault on everyone within his digital reach.
Vast-Swimmer5844 on
What I love about this is how Mark Zuckerberg could have directed Meta to spend $80 billion solving real problems and coming up with services/platforms that could offer equal access to high-speed Internet for school or work; or computing tech that runs on clean energy; or a platform for disaster prediction, management and immediate aid as a core community component.
He has shown how dumb, and limited, and unimaginative he is, and how bad he is at running a company with a future. The metaverse was a child’s idea. It was Animal Crossing for people who think their Myers-Briggs type is a substitute for having a personality. He blew $80 billion on this, made a handful of people very rich and did literally nothing to position his company for the long term.
Quirky-Pie9661 on
I ignore it on my Meta three like the redheaded stepchild that it is
I’m old enough to remember PlayStation home and how no one was interested in that either
blames_irrationally on
They actually just uncanceled it due to “community response.” Holy shit, they’re gonna get Morb’d
Great, can everyone ditch all Zuch’s crap predatory/exploitive “services” finally?
UnitedStatesOfSmesh on
Proof that you can have a genius idea at the right time and still be an out of touch dumbass.
r1ddle07 on
I forgot the metaverse was a thing
petrifikate on
It truly is funny how the Metaverse crumbled and died immediately while VR Chat is still going strong. The people do not want to explore a world sponsored by Wendy’s as a version of themselves (but without any legs). The people want to be a catgirl with tits the size of her head.
heavyblacklines on
The only good idea Zuckerberg ever had was Facebook. Everything else was either acquiring existing products or failures, like the Facebook glasses nonsense is about to be.
Connect_Reading9499 on
It just never got legs under it.
KazPart2 on
cannot recommend ‘The Future is a Dead Mall’ from Folding Ideas enough.
Orpdapi on
Turns out people still like real life interactions and activities and don’t want to live in a VR world where literally everything they do is monetized for a billionaire
69420Pickles666 on
it’s called Laundering
MyrddinSidhe on
Metaverse sucked when it was called Second Life around 2005.
32 Comments
When Zuckerberg announced Horizon Worlds not really all that long ago [at a batshit livestream in October 2021](https://www.vice.com/en/article/zuckerberg-facebook-new-name-meta-metaverse-presentation/?ref=404media.co), I wrote an article called “Zuckerberg Announces Fantasy World Where Facebook Is Not a Horrible Company.” During that livestream Zuckerberg said, “I believe technology can make our lives better. The future will be built by those willing to stand up and say ‘this is the future we want.’” The future Zuckerberg wanted, at that time, was not a future anyone else wanted. But he was bold enough to systematically light roughly [$80 billion on fire](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-threw-77-billion-143014208.html?ref=404media.co), not because he was willing to stand up and paint a vision of the future, but because Facebook was mired in various horrendous scandals and because he needed to rebrand his company and needed something shiny to point at to keep Facebook’s stock price up. It is bad when actual economists [say that money was thrown “into the toilet](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-threw-77-billion-143014208.html?ref=404media.co).”
Zuckerberg’s bold vision of the metaverse was a place where T-Pain would sell NFTs of imaginary sneakers at concerts attended by people sitting silently in their living rooms with computers strapped to their face, [where Wendy’s could do integrated brand deals](https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-corporate-metaverse-brand-activations-virtual-reality-offices/?ref=404media.co) in which human-shaped avatars without legs could throw baconators at basketball hoops, and where Zuckerberg [could pretend to know how to surf](https://www.404media.co/behind-the-blog-zuckerbergs-kook-ness-and-trump-week-one/?ref=weekly-roundup-newsletter). Even on these pitiful metrics, the metaverse failed. “Whatever the metaverse does look like, it is virtually guaranteed to not look or feel anything like what Facebook showed us on Thursday,” I wrote at the time.
The complete and utter failure of the metaverse is a reminder not just of the fact that the future Silicon Valley is force feeding us is not inevitable, but that quite often these oligarchs quite simply cannot relate to real people, don’t know how or why people use their products, and very often have no idea what they’re doing.
Read more: [https://www.404media.co/rip-metaverse-an-80-billion-dumpster-fire-nobody-wanted/](https://www.404media.co/rip-metaverse-an-80-billion-dumpster-fire-nobody-wanted/)
Everyone expected this
How much do you think, in relative terms, it cost to build the Great Pyramid?
Imagine the difference that money could’ve made if it were put into something actually worthwhile and helpful to humanity. Man, no wonder aliens avoid us.
Whenever Zuckerberg fails, I get happy
This is a good reminder much of the unpopular technology they keep trying to force on us under the guise of it being ‘inevitable’ is just BS aimed at protecting *their* massive investments into tech no one asked for. We can and should keep refusing all of it.
I remind people about this when talking about the AI hype. Like, remember six years ago when we were told we would just live as avatars in another dimension, lol? AI will never be our new reality either.
Wait, I thought it died a long time ago? Someone check on (well rub it in the face of) Mark Z….
These nerds don’t deserve to be as wealthy as they are
This was largely a push from Zuck, and was advised not to. So he’s directly responsible for burning billions in cash and thousands of jobs. He’s the anti-employee of the month. He’s the anti-employee of all time.
Rest in piss
For those who haven’t seen it, Dan Olsen’s video about this topic is brilliant: https://youtu.be/EiZhdpLXZ8Q?si=UdTkWE0NXMh-sXJ6.
Think of all the good that could have been done in this world
Or at least $80 Billion worth of Taco Bell
Imagine if this money had been invested in making Facebook a product worth using.
Let us never forget that when Ethan Klein first logged on, his instinct was to emulate sexual assault on everyone within his digital reach.
What I love about this is how Mark Zuckerberg could have directed Meta to spend $80 billion solving real problems and coming up with services/platforms that could offer equal access to high-speed Internet for school or work; or computing tech that runs on clean energy; or a platform for disaster prediction, management and immediate aid as a core community component.
He has shown how dumb, and limited, and unimaginative he is, and how bad he is at running a company with a future. The metaverse was a child’s idea. It was Animal Crossing for people who think their Myers-Briggs type is a substitute for having a personality. He blew $80 billion on this, made a handful of people very rich and did literally nothing to position his company for the long term.
I ignore it on my Meta three like the redheaded stepchild that it is
I’m old enough to remember PlayStation home and how no one was interested in that either
They actually just uncanceled it due to “community response.” Holy shit, they’re gonna get Morb’d
Good. Do fucking ai next
Never forget the way the Press actively [pushed this obvious bullshit on us](https://bsky.app/profile/karlbode.com/post/3mhgbxgaxg22q)
Didn’t people “pay” for spots in the metaverse?
Great, can everyone ditch all Zuch’s crap predatory/exploitive “services” finally?
Proof that you can have a genius idea at the right time and still be an out of touch dumbass.
I forgot the metaverse was a thing
It truly is funny how the Metaverse crumbled and died immediately while VR Chat is still going strong. The people do not want to explore a world sponsored by Wendy’s as a version of themselves (but without any legs). The people want to be a catgirl with tits the size of her head.
The only good idea Zuckerberg ever had was Facebook. Everything else was either acquiring existing products or failures, like the Facebook glasses nonsense is about to be.
It just never got legs under it.
cannot recommend ‘The Future is a Dead Mall’ from Folding Ideas enough.
Turns out people still like real life interactions and activities and don’t want to live in a VR world where literally everything they do is monetized for a billionaire
it’s called Laundering
Metaverse sucked when it was called Second Life around 2005.