How the metaverse will change the world

Lately, it is close to impossible not to come across the metaverse on the Internet. Although it was first described two decades ago, it has recently garnered vast interest; internet searches for the term increased by 7,200% in 2021. In December of that same year, Mark Zuckerberg declared his ambition to help bring the metaverse to life and, in a bid to do so, Facebook was rebranded as Meta. Following this, Microsoft announced that its proposed acquisition of gaming giant, Activision Blizzard for $70billion, has the potential to provide building blocks for the metaverse. Meanwhile in China, the tech conglomerate, Tencent, has announced its intention to engage with the metaverse. Many companies have since then dived into the concept, partnering amongst themselves, pouring capital and raising funds. In 2021, $10 billion was raised by metaverse-related companies, surpassing as much as twice what they had raised in the previous year. According to Citibank (and as reported in Forbes), the g…