99% Bullshit, 1% Pure Gold

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The metaverse is 99% bullshit. Don't write it off though. The remaining 1% is pure gold.

Here's the thing. We're not heading towards a world where we're all strapped into VR goggles 12 hours/day. Even Zuckerberg doesn't believe that will be the case.

Zuck recently explained that he thinks we shouldn't be spending more time online, but rather improve the way we're spending it. So instead of scrolling through Instagram, we should be interacting in a virtual world.

Do you feel joy while scrolling Instagram? I feel a deep sense of nothingness. When I actually talk with friends online, I feel something. No, it'll never be the joy of interacting in person. It's not supposed to be. But, it's something.

Zuck's thesis is that interacting in VR is more personal and meaningful. Again, no it's not as great as IRL, but it's not supposed to be. I think Zuck is right on the money.

As Late Checkout founder Greg Isenberg writes, "The future of web design is world design. Instead of designing a website, make it feel like a world." Hanging out in digital worlds with friends sounds a lot cooler than scrolling through social media.

"I want to replace the digital time I spend on these boring platforms with more exciting ones. I want to spend my time making digital bonds and feeling the digital adrenaline rather than raging or flexing on Twitter," writes Ahad Shams, founder of Webaverse, a platform at the forefront of social media and world building.

Social media feels like a video game and video games feel like social media.

We're a strange point in time where the two are heading for a collision: the social metaverse. Social media should feel more like Minecraft than scrolling through email. But right now, we're all playing the great online game with points and alliances, but it doesn't look like a video game yet.

Most people think it'll be years before we're using the metaverse for work and socialization, but the future is already here — it's just not evenly distributed. This newsletter is about winning the great online game so no more predictions today. Here's a few unconventional strategies to leverage the metaverse to grow online in 2022.

1. Hire a Virtual Influencer or NFT

Last month, Pacsun signed computer-generated influencer Lil Miquela to represent the brand. With 3M on Instagram, she's worked with brands like Chanel, Burberry, and Fendi.

Lil Miquela's parent company was acquired by Dapper Labs, the creators of NFT collections NBATopShots and CryptoKitties. But despite her connection to NFTs, Miquela doesn't scream blockchain. Her brand has managed to transcend the metaverse.

For the more crypto-inclined folks, apparel brands like Old Navy and Urban Outfitters have licensed NFTs for their clothing — leveraging the NFT collection's community and IP.

Entire brands are being built around virtual influencers and NFTs.

There's Punk6529, the anon CryptoPunk with 400k+ followers and a hefty venture fund. Jenkins The Valet is a character derived from a Bored Ape that is releasing a book with NYT best-seller Neil Strauss about the Bored Ape world.

Depending on the NFT's IP regulations, you can buy an NFT and build an entire brand or persona around it. Or use a virtual influencer if that's more up your alley.

Sound weird? When you think about it, the Geico gecko is just a computer-generated influencer that has a contract with Geico. Just imagine the creators of the gecko decided to leverage him for more than just insurance commercials. Brand equity baby!

2. Use VR Tools to Be a 10x Creator

Ok, quick one. I was hanging out my UX designer friend Shane last week. I asked him why he owned an Oculus Quest and he explained that he uses it for work. How? Wtf?

It turns out there's an app called Infinite Office where you can have an infinite amount of monitors in VR. Shane used this to design an app while sitting on the beach.

Finally, I'm buying an Oculus. Time to ADHD-maximize and become a 10x writer.

3. Build a Community That Relies on the Metaverse

Recently, one of my readers was telling me that he has a decentralized group of friends who meet every week to hang out in VR through VRChat.

On VRChat, users can collaborate, draw, and sculpt projects. If you want to meet new friends in VR, there's also weekly events including open mics, improv, and live music.

This makes me think creators could use VRChat for:

• Cohort-based courses

• Ideation/brainstorm sessions

• 1:1 coaching/consults

On the same wavelength, Webaverse's metaverse lets users explore The Street, a reference to Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. It's the metaverse equivalent of walking around the Ocean City boardwalk with your friends.

Your community doesn't need VR or fancy graphics to work out though.

Startup accelerator Launch House hosts a metaverse cohort of founders in addition to their NYC and LA houses. Back in February, Launch House co-founder Jacob Peters showed me around their metaverse on the Gather platform.

It felt like a Pokemon video game mixed with a Zoom meeting. If you made your character go to different rooms, you weren't able to hear people in distant rooms.

I think it'd be really fun to use Gather for a cohort-based course... so fun in fact that I might do it for my upcoming Maven course I'm teaching (more on that soon).