The metaverse has a Clubhouse problem

What is it like to experience the metaverse? After all, the VR harassment had felt more visceral; as University of Miami professor and Cyber Civil Rights Initiative president Mary Anne Franks noted in The Desert of the Unreal: Inequality in Virtual and Augmented Reality: “Harassment in VR is far more traumatic than in other digital worlds.” There’s a ‘Safe Zone’ button on your virtual wrist that you can use to time yourself out of Horizon Worlds and Venues to report an offender. It also launched me into the Oculus Store, which houses immersive apps spanning games, workspaces, entertainment and Meta’s social VR spaces, Horizon Venues and Horizon Worlds. Antigone Davis, the Head of Global Safety at Meta, once said the platform is “investing in controls that allow users to manage and report problematic content and conduct, as well as safety tooling designed for immersive experiences.” In response, a Meta spokesperson pointed to the Personal Boundary feature, which, as we’ve established, does nothing to prevent unwanted verbal interaction. There’s only so much you can do in Meta Platforms’ virtual worlds before minutes turn to hours and the Oculus Quest 2 weighs on your head, much like the problems ensconced within it.