Metaverse as media: Re-evaluating gains and losses of communication

Abstract

<p class="15" align="justify">The Metaverse foretells a new round of technological innovation and network integration in the long history of digital revolution. It will not only change the internet industry but also reshape the field of communication. Although the concept of “<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">M</span>etamedia” precedes the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">M</span>etaverse, it accurately predicts the dialectical relationship between new media and old media in the digital age, which is always constituting, shaping and relying on each other. Based on this relationship, the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">M</span>etaverse is strengthening a “communication about communication”, that is, the process of “meta-communication”. As a space for <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">M</span>etamedia and metacommunication, the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">M</span>etaverse, with its internal mechanism and technical characteristics, recalls context and consensus, voices and speech, and at the same time reveals the reflexivity and the infrastructure nature of the media that are neglected before. At the same time, the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">M</span>etaverse could be disembodied, unreal, closed and without privacy, posing serious risks to this new communication revolution.</p>