How many people really know what the metaverse is all about? We wanted to find out what people are thinking, feeling, and saying about the metaverse, so we deep-dived into Zavy’s social listening tool, Radar – and discovered these three surprising facts.
1) Overall sentiment toward the metaverse is positive
Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t deny that most people don’t mind it. In the past 12 months, the average sentiment around the metaverse, according to Radar, is 80 per cent – a surprisingly high figure. This sentiment data comes from looking at emotions cropping up in more than 6,000 posts and 6,600 mentions. The positive sentiment seems to be driven by a broad general interest in what the metaverse can offer, such as buying virtual property in the metaverse and adopting innovative new technology.
The positive sentiment around the metaverse tells us it’s important to consumers – so it’s a smart idea to stay across evolutions in the metaverse and understand how they could impact your marketing.
Funnily enough, sentiment was at its lowest when Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook was changing its company to Meta, in a future-forward move committing the entire brand to the metaverse.
2) The dominant emotion around the metaverse is optimism
From looking at Radar, we can see that most people are excited by the future of the metaverse. In the past month, 12 per cent of posts and mentions are optimistic.
A huge amount of optimism hinges on NFTs – which showcase digital ownership over things like art and property in the metaverse world, by using the same blockchain technology as cryptocurrency – most likely due to the immense money-making possibilities they present for creatives and anyone clever enough to jump on the trend.
The NFT for this meme sold for more than $76,000 in cryptocurrency. Another iconic meme, Disaster Girl, sold for $500,000 in the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
No wonder people are getting excited.
But optimism is closely shadowed by fear, with 9% of social posts showing a more nervous outlook. Some of this fear seems to be driven by worry the NFT market will collapse.
3) In the metaverse, you can taste your screen and even feel pain
In case you thought the metaverse was a visual only experience, we’re here to let you know there are also plans to make it tap into other senses as well.
There are plans to augment the metaverse experience through the likes of lickable screens (yes, with your real tongue), VR vests, and specialised gloves – all of which allow you to taste and feel things in the metaverse. Haptic technology simulates touch through vibration or motion. Sensors in haptic devices can replicate sensations of texture, weight, and resistance through different electrical impulses.
H2L Technologies, a metaverse startup in Japan supported by Sony, has created a wristband that can replicate weight, pressure and even pain by sending electrical impulses into your arm muscles.
The growth of haptics and VR means a more convincingly immersive metaverse, where brands might need to think about how their brand ‘feels’ to consumers when they interact with it.
Jumping on this sensory bandwagon, Coke launched a pixel flavoured drink via the metaverse, in the game Fortnite. “Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Byte makes the intangible taste of the pixel tangible,” Oana Vlad, senior director of strategy at Coca-Cola, told CNN Business in an email.
Curious to know what else people are saying about the metaverse? Try a 14-day free trial of our cutting-edge social listening tool, Radar.
