Meta’s looking to provide more perspective on the coming metaverse shift via a new video series, hosted by Keke Palmer, in which Palmer explores Meta’s evolving VR worlds and opportunities.
The new series, entitled ‘Are We There Yet?’, will look at how Meta is planning for the future, and how the metaverse will change the way that we connect, engage, create and more.
As explained by Meta:
“Part Bill Nye The Science Guy, Part Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, ‘Are We There Yet?’ will be a metaverse 101, with each episode showcasing conversations between Palmer and various creators, artists, experts and more, as they travel through a future vision of the metaverse in a car and highlight the ways the metaverse will help us feel closer, be more collaborative, and be built by not just a few, but by all of us.”
The first episode, which you can watch in the embedded post above, sees Palmer talking with Meta’s VP of the metaverse Vishal Shah, in which they discuss some of the new potential opportunities of the space, including Horizon Worlds, virtual comedy clubs, movies, gaming and more.
It’s an interesting approach to mainstreaming some of the more technical aspects of the next stage, and demystifying the possibilities and potential for regular users.
It’s also interesting in the context of minority representation, and better aligning the metaverse with Black creators specifically.
Black creators are often the originators of web trends, but over time, they’ve gone unappreciated or unrecognized for such by social apps. Last year, Black creators on TikTok held a weeks-long strike action in protest over lack of credit and cultural appropriation. TikTok has since been working to build better networks for Black artists, through improved recognition and funding, but many still have concerns about how their work can be stolen to fuel viral trends.
Instagram has also added a new acknowledgment process to ‘address complaints that Black users are not credited for starting trends or are shut out from profiting from them’, while Facebook too has been working to provide more opportunities for Black artists.
Given this, Meta is well aware of the importance of Black creators in fueling cultural movements, which it will need as part of its evolving metaverse push.
As such, partnering with Keke Palmer could also help to ensure more Black artists are aware of the opportunities in the space, which may help to open up more doors for their work.
With this in mind, it’s more than just an entertaining overview and interview series, which could expand its value beyond the up front promotion of the metaverse shift.
You can check out the first episode of ‘Are We There Yet?’ via the link above.