It’s Hard to Be a Woman in Metaverse, But There Is a Way Out
Yes, it is really hard to be a woman in a recently launched virtual world, Metaverse (formerly Facebook).
Recently, there has been some fascinating news circulating on the social media platform that a female beta tester was groped in Facebook’s metaverse.
In a Medium article, the 43-year-old lady named Nina Jane Patel, who claimed being “groped” in virtual reality last December, has come forward to explain her terrifying experience.
Mrs. Patel was horrified as she saw and listened in terror as her avatar — a computer-generated version of herself – was grabbed forcefully in a protracted attack by three actual male characters through a virtual-reality headset.
She said: ‘I entered the Horizon Venues metaverse as an avatar who looked just like me – middle-aged, blonde, and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved top.
The space you enter is a lobby, like a theatre foyer. Within 60 seconds, three male avatars – who all had male voices – came toward me and touched me inappropriately.
Before I knew what was happening, they were taking screenshots of them touching my avatar, both my upper and lower body. While doing that, they said things like, “Don’t pretend you don’t love it.
'I tried to move away but they followed me. I didn’t know who these people were or have the time to stay and investigate.
Although the South London-based Mrs. Patel has seen the evil side of the metaverse before, this was not the first time, according to published news.
Metaverse is a hybrid of technological features such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and video in which users "live" in a digital realm. The metaverse's supporters envisage its users working, playing, and remaining connected with people over everything in the virtual world.
These advanced technologies are being developed in order to create new methods for people to interact with virtual reality for the greater cause. However, it is being used for nefarious purposes by a number of people.
So now the issue is: how can such situations be avoided in the future? Is there a way to get out of it?
The Problem with Metaverse Technology and its Consequences
The difficulty with the metaverse is that the same characteristics that make virtual reality a potentially transformative technology also make it extremely hazardous.
The metaverse amplifies the immersive features of the two-dimensional internet, particularly via the use of augmented and virtual reality. However, greater absorption implies that all the internet’s present hazards will be amplified.
People react to the metaverse with immediacy and emotional reactions akin to what they would experience if it happened to them in the offline world, even with today’s very rudimentary virtual and augmented reality gadgets.
The dread you feel when someone gropes you in the metaverse is not virtual at all.
When recalling memories made in virtual reality and remembering a “real”-world experience, people’s brains react similarly; their bodies react to events in virtual reality as they would in the actual world, with heart rates speeding up in stressful scenarios. This is exactly what happened with the women who recently made headlines.
Facebook has long emphasized high levels of involvement and the creation of as wide and global a “community” as workable. The company’s current pivot appears to ignore these warnings, despite the fact that the dangers of that approach have been obvious for some years.
Content Moderation in Metaverse
Although Andrew Bosworth, the current CTO of Meta, said that content moderation in the metaverse is “nearly impossible but also asked Internet defenders, come up with some kind of successful metaverse moderation strategy.
Even whistleblower Frances Haugen expressed concern that, if left unregulated, Facebook’s new immersive platform might compound the company’s current safety issues.
So how can we make this virtual platform safe?
Several technology giants spend a lot of money to safeguard their users from inappropriate and dangerous information. Guarding an ever-expanding gaming environment with massive volumes of user-generated content has proven to be a huge difficulty. But several content moderation companies like Cogito Tech LLC or Anolytics.ai are managing this herculean task effectively.
Businesses are attempting to strike the optimal balance between offering immersive, next-generation experiences while remaining compliant with consumer protection rules. Content moderation services are useful in this situation. These services are one tool that may use to create and implement an effective security policy that protects online communities while allowing them to interact and be creative.
Unlocking the Power of AI With the Human Element
With the rise of user-generated material, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a significant moderation tool. However, AI cannot moderate on its own; it needs rules and models to function ethically. Businesses must integrate a hybrid model of human and AI moderation into their platform to be more predictably successful.
Conclusion
The community can have memorable and delightful experiences thanks to the metaverse, especially during times when regular social engagement isn’t available.
Allowing an entirely unmoderated environment is a dangerous practice; nevertheless, balancing users’ aspirations to contribute to their own material while maintaining a secure community ecology is an arduous task.
Beyond amusement, users have a significant obligation to protect their online communities from potentially hazardous information. Successful content moderation can deliver the correct blend of community norms and ethical AI to create a safe area for everyone.
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