The Future of Social Media is VR: Immersive Platforms Taking the Lead
— Traditional social media are becoming outdated!
“Traditional social media” is a strange term indeed. But this is how progress works. Twenty years ago, when Web2 was becoming widely spread during the Dotcom era, we would never have thought of it as becoming so fundamental to our lives. And here we are, with new technologies at our doorstep, on the brink of transforming our social media landscape. In ten years from now or less, we will be calling that traditional.
What will the future of social media look like in a world where virtual reality is the norm? Today we will look at how VR is poised to revolutionize the way we connect and communicate in the digital age.
The New Design for the Digital Age
Virtual reality reimagines social media by enabling profoundly immersive social experiences that transcend the 2D profiles and screens of today’s common platforms. While still in early development, virtual reality technology promises to fundamentally transform how society connects, builds networks, and supports each other through social media and community. New virtual worlds are being designed specifically to increase interaction, connection, community and shared relationships.
New VR platforms are pioneering experiences that could eventually challenge assumptions around adequacy of current networks and widen circles of human relationships. Though imperfect, it shapes a more shared, multi-sensory and liberating concept of social interaction that inspires rather than distracts. Its influence on the next-generation social networking is thus both possibility and responsibility — with the potential for good that must be nourished rather than exploited.
Mingling in the Virtual Space
Within the 3D virtual worlds, users can co-experience digital content together, attend virtual events, and explore the 3D world. This is what virtual spaces offer compared to 2D social media worlds:
Presence and dynamics — They transform social networking by making interaction feel profoundly more present and dynamic. Users inhabit an actual shared phygital (physically digital) world rather than abstract profiles and feeds. People can explore new spaces side by side, engage with a level of expression evolving beyond text and static media, and develop their sense of identity and relationships through the evolving narrative of shared experiences over time.
Place-based bonds — The virtual spaces spark possibilities for place-based bonds, interest-based networks, and expanded circles of support that go beyond limitations of geographic proximity or surface-level acquaintances. Users frequent the same virtual hangouts, meetups, and build familiarity with the same virtual locals.
Third places — Third place is an urbanistic term for a common public space. They represent playgrounds for creativity and collaboration. At their best, they inspire a sense of shared purpose and possibility, reduce loneliness, and cultivate insights that spread beyond any single virtual world.
From Profiles to Avatars
VR social platforms pioneer an innovative concept of user profiles transformed into customizable virtual avatars. Rather than static photo profiles, users can develop multidimensional representations of their identity and personality that are brought to life within shared virtual spaces. Users can choose their avatar’s movements, facial expressions, style and voice to portray themselves in the ways they wish to be seen and experienced by others.
Avatars inspire a sense of identity that evolves and grows over time. They represent the stories and growth that unfold through regular participation within a virtual community, develop memories and evolve into entities uniquely representing the user.
They embrace possibilities beyond the physical body — users can explore new forms of embodiment, try on different forms. Avatars foster inclusivity by providing access to a level of expression not constrained by physical limitations and embracing diversity of gender, race, ability or age.
Effects of Immersion
Sharing with others contains a sensory, emotional component, which takes on a whole new form through immersive media. Rather than ‘liking’ and ‘commenting’, people explore a shared reality. They can gain deeper insights into experiences of others and growth through presence rather than superficial reactions or performative personas.
At their most impactful, immersive media sparks insights that spread beyond any single virtual world to evolve how culture documents and learns from life’s journey. They make the personal, emotive and meaning-making central to technology rather than an afterthought. Some might think — what does this have to do with social media, if they are rather impersonal? That is the thing. The “social” in social media has only been fulfilled to a degree by Web2. Web3 has the potential to take it further.
The Immersive Social Media
One of the goals of OWNverse is to transform social networking. Our world is designed specifically for connection, community and self-expression in virtual 3D, but beyond that, we aim to inspire people to not abandon their 2D social media accounts. We provide integrations that allow connecting your existing profiles and bringing them to Web3D.
Many people have running businesses and following on the common social media platforms. Should entering VR mean their complete abandonment? Of course not — it means we should evolve, build networks and connections among platforms that sets the basis for an interoperable network. Many VR platforms, however, are not built this way and do not offer this option, expecting the users to start building their 3D identities from scratch.
Each network develops a unique vision for what is possible within virtual reality and how VR can progress the society. We think that this progress is not about rejection of the previous, but about integration of the former and evolution into new spheres. The mainstream social media will be transformed at a large scale. Some focus on place-based communities and interest-based networks, others run businesses or educate audiences. And each of these cases will eventually need an immersive upgrade.
Final Thoughts
If developed with integrity, VR social networking could profoundly transform society and culture by bringing deep relationships and belonging in the mainstream. It inspires optimism for how technology might evolve human experiences of identity and purpose. At their most impactful, these networks spawn insights spreading beyond virtual worlds to inspire progress in every area.
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