Keeping it real with the meh-taverse

Erin and I just hosted a Twitter Space on the Meh-taverse vs IRL.

You can listen to it (at the time of publishing) here:

The meh-taverse is a term I came up with. I've been feeling a bit meh recently and the random Slack chats I have with Erin led to me blurting out 'meh-taverse'.

The thing about the metaverse is that there is no real definition of it yet. It's a thing that is there and in the making. It's a virtual reality that we're all supposed to get really excited about.

Yet, here I am feeling very meh at what it might become.

Or even feeling meh at how it is being pitched β€” as some amazing 3D world that we all just have to have to take part in.

I love tech, it is amazing

It's not that I don't like tech. I do. I love it. It's my career. It's been the foundation of my previous work and businesses. The internet has been amazing for that.

As a mother, as a person starting my adult life in life with literally nothing, the internet has given me so many opportunities. I've generated millions in sales over the years. I helped transform the software testing industry. I've employed people for several years...I think at least 6 years.

I had a great time leading the community over at Indie Hackers too. I've seen how people build amazing businesses, with tech being a strong foundation.

But we are pitched on something like it is black or white

We are expected to get excited about the metaverse and there is no talk about what that means. Or how it will combine with our real lives.

Perhaps in times of COVID we feel like the only solutions worth pursuing are virtual ones. Something in me feels that this is wrong.

Let's pursue virtual solutions, but let us also balance them out with real-life ones. Let us think of how we can create better connections offline. Let us think about how we can build upon existing relationships that we have irl through the use of tech. Let us think about what we feel is missing.

I'm not anti-metaverse, though the name is questionable. I think I'm just pro-human-connected-ness. And I worry that two years of a pandemic is making us forget how special it is to meet and connect with people in real life.

COVID has created positives

I've said this a lot β€” we did a lot of pointless things pre-covid. People travelling into work is the biggest pointless thing that business would not accept until covid happened.

And we are all still in the COVID world. It's not gone yet. Who knows when or if it ever will go. But what I do know is that we need to find more balanced solutions.

The world or the metaverse that comes in the future should consider all our human needs. Some of this will be built into tech, and as always, sometimes the only way to bring balance is for us as human beings to be more intentional in our behaviour.

Not chase followers. Chase relationships.

Not chase shallow conversations. Create spaces to have more meaningful ones that could lead somewhere fruitful.

Not chase growth in numbers. Set goals and aspirations of the kind of relationships that matter to you.

And here I leave you with the metaverse my daughter created.

It's pure. Fun. And filled with so much creativity. (She gets iPad time too).

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