Cambridge Analytica Whistle-Blower, Chris Wylie, Talks The Metaverse & A Marketers Role In It

In recent months, ‘Metaverse’ seems to be the phrase on the tip of the post-covid societal tongue. Few people truly understand it, and yet few people are also unaware of it.

Mark Zuckerberg’s promise of an augmented reality superseding the mobile internet has since been met seemingly with equal parts praise and suspicion, the latter an obviously natural human response to abrupt paradigm shifts.

But when current technologies – with their own unresolved issues – are set to be replaced with highly immersive technologies – no less, with similar problems – perhaps such anxieties are warranted.

Last Thursday, February 17, customer engagement experts, Cheetah Digital, held an exclusive webinar focusing on the unchecked problems arising from the metaverse, particularly the challenges this new reality presents for marketers and advertisers. You can watch it here.

The event saw Cheetah CMO, Richard Jones, sitting down with data consultant, and noted Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, Christopher Wylie, to discuss the major issues marketers – and society, in general – must consider when it comes to the safety and security of how the Metaverse will be constructed.

For Wylie – who also authored the 2019 book, Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America – discussions surrounding privacy are slightly missing the mark.

“Privacy is one piece of the puzzle… human agency is an even more important conversation to have,” he told Jones during the webinar.

Throughout their chat, the former whistleblower remained adamant on the dangers of this encroaching “meta” technology – not so much in that it would expose users to unpleasant realities, but that it would do exactly the opposite.

It is almost inarguable to imagine a functioning life devoid of technology and internet access in 2022, but how will smart technology respond when augmented reality becomes the norm in the coming decade?

“We may start to infantilise ourselves as a society, when we take something that originally came from the logic of advertising – which is personalisation – and we extend the logic of advertising to the very perception of reality,” said Wylie.

“What happens in a society where you no longer see homeless people? You no longer see social problems? When we no longer fully understand what’s happening around us?”

Wylie insisted that, while he didn’t have a problem with personalised advertisements, he didn’t like the idea of “creating an entire ecosystem [such as the Metaverse] using that logic.”

So, how do marketers ensure information can still be collected in an ethical manner? Is it possible to create a more responsible environment where a consumers’ desires are balanced with a marketers’ need to create ads?

Wylie said this was possible, although not everything in the digital realm needed to be based on immediate user consent.

“Why is it we put the burden on the consumer to make decisions about something which is technical, in a way that we don’t in other industries?” he asked, adding that when someone enters a building, they aren’t required to actively give consent to the building’s functions; they merely trust in its structural integrity owing to the expertise of regulators.

“In other sectors we don’t place the burden on the layperson to make decisions about technical features.

“You could create an environment where – if your app meets a set of publicly define standards – you don’t necessarily need to ask.”

And – as Jones pointed out – this makes sense, especially when you consider all aspects of safety, quality and design are fundamental to an engineer’s role, and yet not so much to that of a software engineer.

“Just because someone agrees to it, [doesn’t mean] it should necessarily be allowed,” added Wylie.

Placing the burden on consumers to understand the safety functions of intricate technology seems problematic to begin with.

For Wylie, placing the burden back on software engineers, while also ensuring their industry and technological progress isn’t prohibited – particularly for marketers and advertisers – is the primary goal of a safe and ethical digital realm.

“I suspect there’s a lot of tech companies that would embrace the idea of having guidance from a regulator about how to design something, if the tradeoff means there’s more flexibility in your build.”

But what of marketers? How can they navigate this constantly oscillating and shifting realm?

“Don’t trust a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” was Wylie’s stern advice to the adlanders constantly grappling with the tech realm.

“Advertisers often have a cosy relationship with social platforms because that’s where all they eyeballs are.

“Just because it’s a useful tool now, doesn’t mean these companies don’t intend on replacing you at some point.”

Wylie’s talk was both sobering and enlightening, explaining in simple, laypeople terminology the problems and possibilities presented by Meta’s encroaching augmented world.

And while the possibilities are endless, the safety measures – as Wylie points out – need to be rigid and universal to ensure security among users and further enterprise for businesses.