Why Did SNSs That Defeated the 1st Generation Metaverse Return to the Metaverse? [Im Juhyung's Tech Talk]

Facebook Declares Transition to 'Metaverse' Company Within Next 5 Years
Current SNS Platforms Are Former '1st Generation Metaverse' Companies
'Second Life' Released in 2003 Declines Due to Facebook Competition
Signs of Metaverse Activation with Technological Advances and VR Adoption
"Successor to Mobile Era" SNS Platforms Seeking Opportunities in Metaverse

Virtual reality (VR) goggles developed by Oculus, a subsidiary of Facebook. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] "Facebook must now transition into a metaverse company."

This is what Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, said in a recent interview with the U.S. IT media outlet 'The Verge.' As of January, Facebook, the world's largest social networking service (SNS) platform with about 1 billion users, is now attempting a leap toward the metaverse.

In fact, this change is somewhat ironic when connected to Facebook's growth history. SNS platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were the very entities that surpassed the first generation of metaverses and became the mainstream of internet culture.

However, due to technological advancements and the rapid increase in internet users, the entry barriers for metaverse businesses have drastically lowered, and now SNS platforms are absorbing the metaverse.

On the 28th of last month (local time), during a conference call announcing Facebook's Q2 earnings, CEO Zuckerberg stated, "The metaverse is our future stage," and expressed his commitment to the business by saying, "It will require an enormous amount of investment over the coming years."

The metaverse is a compound word of 'meta,' meaning virtual, and 'universe,' meaning world, referring to a platform where users enter a virtual digital space as avatars and engage in various activities. Representative examples include the U.S. 'Roblox' and Naver's service 'Zepeto.'

Facebook's plan is to replace the existing SNS platform with a metaverse form. To this end, Facebook intends to actively utilize virtual reality (VR) technology. Previously, Facebook acquired Oculus, a VR hardware manufacturer, in 2014, and in 2019, it launched the beta service of the VR-based SNS platform 'Horizon.'

Facebook held a press conference in a virtual space using the VR platform 'Oculus Quest' on the 6th. / Photo by Yonhap News

With Facebook declaring its transition to the metaverse, there is a view that the full-scale evolution of SNS platforms has begun. However, ironically, this transition is also a phenomenon that is the exact opposite of how SNS platforms have grown in the past.

In fact, the metaverse was already attempted in the early 2000s when high-speed information and communication technology became widespread. Earlier, in 2003, the U.S. game developer 'Linden Lab' released the virtual reality game 'Second Life,' which is known as the prototype of the metaverse.

Second Life was a game where users created avatars to enter a vast virtual city and engage in activities almost close to reality. Users could conduct commerce using a digital currency called 'Linden Dollars,' and even real-world companies purchased real estate within Second Life to establish branches or conduct advertising activities.

A screen capture of the metaverse game 'Second Life,' released in 2003. / Photo by Wikipedia

At the peak of Second Life's popularity in 2006, several countries including the U.S. and the U.K. established 'cyber embassies.' However, Second Life's popularity began to decline sharply starting in 2007, just a year later.

Second Life once had over 36 million users at its peak, but now only about 600,000 users barely log in. This fate contrasts sharply with Facebook, which surpassed 1 billion users during the same period.

The downfall of Second Life coincided with the explosive growth of SNS platforms like Facebook that were gaining popularity on the internet at the time. The reason Second Life lost users' interest was its high entry barrier. Because it required a sophisticated virtual world, expensive computers were necessary, and due to its many features, players had to thoroughly read thick manuals to enjoy the game. It gradually transformed into a game for a niche enthusiast group that could handle all this.

Second Life introduced in 2006 by the American financial magazine BusinessWeek. / Photo by Internet Community Capture

As a result, early internet users turned to SNS platforms where they could enjoy communication with others through simple sign-up procedures, and eventually, Second Life was pushed out by Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The U.S. media outlet 'The Atlantic' once evaluated, "Second Life could have been the future of the internet, but then Facebook appeared."

However, the situation has now changed. In the past, there were few 3D graphic games, and communication technology was underdeveloped, so there were not enough users willing to spend time on the complex metaverse. Now, high-performance electronic devices have become widespread, and VR technology has advanced.

Above all, new-generation metaverse games like Roblox and Zepeto have already received great responses. This is why Facebook, which once defeated the metaverse, is now seeking future growth engines in the metaverse.

Regarding this, CEO Zuckerberg emphasized to 'The Verge' on the 22nd, "We will become a metaverse company within the next five years," adding, "The metaverse is the successor to the mobile internet era. In the future, we will communicate sitting on each other's sofas through holograms without phones, and I think this future is very powerful."