Research shows that in Latin America only 24% of comments on Metaverse are positive

There is a lot of talk about the metaverse on social networks and media platforms these days. The trend is that each activity becomes entertainment through this technology which should amplify the digital Experience, reflecting the real world in the virtual environment.

The topic has generated discussions across the web for the past two years, reaching 2,300% more mentions as of October 2021, when Facebook was presented to the market as Meta. However, there are still many doubts about what this combination of realities can represent.

The numbers were recorded by Comscore, a renowned partner for media planning, transactions and evaluation on different platforms, which listed the highlights of the new virtual world in Latin America.

The company report indicates that, between March 2020 and March 2022, Mexico led the number of Metaverse mentions (27%) in the region, followed by Brazil (22%), Argentina (19%), Colombia (11%). Chile (11%) and Peru (5%).

Analyzing more than 350 different topics related to the Metaverse, Comscore also listed the topics that generated more than 92% of the posts on the topic on social media in these two years: more than 39% refer to Facebook/Meta, 17% are about the use of virtual reality, 15% are related to companies and businesses and 11% are related to NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). As for the tone of the comments about the technology, 39% are still negative.

“Thanks to the technology of augmented reality and virtual reality, Metaverse is a place that allows to improve the online experience, from shopping activities to meeting with friends, or even in the form of transactions with digital assets and NFT. That is why the conversations on the subject revolve around multiple variables that contemplate and make their existence possible. However, due to the doubts and uncertainties that instigate consumers, only 24% of the comments on the networks in relation to Metaverse are positive.”, says Ingrid Veronesi, Comscore Senior Director for Brazil.

Industry Participation in Metaverse Conversations

Comscore data also shows who are the most tech-savvy sectors in the region and found that Fashion comes first. The large volume of mentions in the category is due to the fact that in March 2022 the first edition of Metaverso was held at Fashion Week, with parades scheduled with the help of the virtual reality platform, Decentraland. In this period, Comscore recorded 1,134 mentions of Metaverse on the networks, mainly linked to the brands participating in the event.

Other sectors that also interacted with Metaverse on digital platforms were: automotive, beverage, media, arts and real estate.

Metaverse in practice

Despite having recently taken over the networks, some companies are already betting on the Metaverse as a business strategy. In 2014, Facebook acquired the virtual reality glasses company Oculus. Since then, it has deployed multiple initiatives aimed at creating a virtual world, and in 2021 it changed its name to Meta.

At Google, the company’s short-term focus appears to be tied to augmented reality, as the company still hasn’t found a satisfactory way out of the problem, especially after its last big glitch in this field with the cardboard glasses and Daydream View VR platform.

Epic Games has Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox as some of the most popular games of recent years that allow you to build virtual worlds. In 2021, the company announced that it will raise funds to develop the narrative of the metaverse in its titles. Microsoft, meanwhile, has HoloLens 2 glasses as one of its central elements. Also, in 2021, the company introduced Microsoft Mesh, a mixed reality software that enables virtual connection.

“The Metaverse will certainly dominate the new interactions between brands and consumers. Even bringing many questions about the social future and human relations, this innovation implies an expansion of the connection between people, represented by their avatars, through technology. This growing fusion between the real and the virtual should completely transform our consumption habits”, concludes Ingrid.