Remember “Cyberspace”? It was a popular term used in the news when the internet was fairly new, and people slowly started seeing the endless possibilities that an interconnected network of computers could offer. Web browsing was a challenge because there were no search machines yet, meaning the only way to find content was by visiting “start pages” that contained lists of interesting links per topic. This was providing you could even get onto the internet in the first place – dialing in with your modem meant you could not use your telephone for anything else.

There were early critics as well – as this 1995 Newsweek article illustrates. While being spot on about certain pitfalls (“the cacophony [..] resembles citizens band radio, complete with handles, harassment, and anonymous threats”) it also clearly describes the problems with early stage technology (“[..] my search is periodically interrupted by messages like, ‘Too many connections, try again later.’”). It also misses to see the opportunities for online business (“the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople”).

But the most striking part of the article is a theme I’ve noticed recurs every time new technology starts to become visible to the mainstream. It’s that the new tech would lead to lesser quality human contact, and thereby degrading society as a whole (“computers and networks isolate us from one another. A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee.”).

I would argue that past technological improvements have made our society better not worse. Internet has brought us endless free and unfiltered knowledge. Mobile phones and their apps have replaced tens of different devices we simply no longer need, and drastically improved our ability to stay closely connected with anyone we care about, even if they are travelling the other side of the world.

Now we have another new technology coming our way dubbed the “Metaverse”. To me, it feels like a repetition of steps I’ve seen before. Technologically you could argue it doesn’t even exist yet, but expectations are massive. The real challenges of having anonymous users meeting each other in virtual worlds are also becoming clear. Also the familiar sentiments have returned: People feel it could alienate us from each other, reduce our lives to staring at their screen (or wearing a headset) slowly getting immobile like in the popular movie Wall-E.

I don’t think that’s realistic. Just like before, I’m sure in time we will end up with parts of what we are imagining, but in ways we can not totally foresee yet. And I’m also sure, in time, we won’t be calling it “Metaverse” anymore. Just like no one really remembers “Cyberspace”.