Marck Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook - now with Meta as the corporate giant behind it - does not want the metaverse to be used for too long, but rather for users to make efficient use of that experience.
"I don't want people to spend more time in front of their screens," he explained on August 25. "I just want the time people spend in front of them to be better."
At least that's what he claimed during an interview for Joe Rogan's podcast, a statement that contrasts with the allegations Meta faces. Recently, a mother accused Meta of exploiting "vulnerable users" for greater profit.
In the case of this mother, her 13-year-old daughter started using Facebook at the age of 7 and since then began to develop emotional and social problems.
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Zuckerberg is not the only one facing accusations. The Social Media Victims Law Center jointly sued Meta, TikTok, and Snap for allegedly promoting suicide among teenagers, due to their own structure.
The CEO of Meta also praised his Instagram app in comparison to Facebook. According to him, the image-based design is much more positive than text-centered.
"I think images tend to be a little less cutting and a little less critical than text," he assured.
Another statement by Zuckerberg that contrasts with reality in the courts, as 2 new lawsuits against Instagram blamed the social network for causing eating disorders in teenagers.
The families of 2 girls claimed that Instagram led to the emergence of anxiety, anorexia, and depression in the teenagers, leading them to attempt suicide and be hospitalized on several occasions.
Zuckerberg did not specifically address these lawsuits, but he referred to Meta's platforms in terms that have nothing to do with the content of the allegations. Thus, he referred to "anger" on social media.
"If someone reacts with any kind of anger, we never count on this reaction to show it to other people," Meta's CEO assured. "We simply don't want to amplify the anger."
Finally, according to Zuckerberg, his goal with the metaverse and virtual reality is to replace traditional television. In this sense, people will be able to watch TV through glasses instead of a television screen.
"It could be a great improvement in people's overall well-being," he added.
Now, we will have to wait and see if this metaverse truly improves the quality of life for users or, on the contrary, exacerbates the problems of social media even more, with the brain unable to distinguish between the real and the virtual.