Last updated: March 03, 2023, 4:02 PM IST
Metaverse needs more users, but teens may not be the right audience
Meta wants to expand its user base for the metaverse, but teens may not be the best option.
US senators have urged Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to stop planning to open his metaverse platforms to teens.
Meta may open access to its social virtual reality (VR) platform Horizon Worlds to users ages 13 to 17 this month as it struggles to grow its VR business.
According to TechCrunch, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote a letter to Zuckerberg urging him to halt Meta’s plans to open Horizon Worlds to teens.
“Any strategy to invite young users into a digital space full of potential harm should not be driven by a goal of maximizing profit,” the senators wrote.
“We call on you to stop Meta’s plan to bring teen users to Horizon Worlds immediately,” they added.
Meta (formerly Facebook) lost a whopping $13.7 billion in business losses for Reality Labs for 2022, giving its AR-VR and Metaverse dream a huge shake.
Within the Reality Labs segment, Q4 revenue was $727 million, down 17 percent due to lower Quest 2 sales.
The app is currently available to users ages 18 and older, and the teen launch could be as early as a month away.
Nearly a year after Zuckerberg announced his metaverse project, internal documents revealed the company was struggling with “glitchy technology, disinterested users, and a lack of clarity about what it takes to succeed.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed)
