68% of Surveyed U.S. Adults Are Not Interested in Zuckerberg's Version of a Metaverse

What's the matter with Meta and how might it affect its crypto aspirations?

On Oct. 28, Facebook announced its decision to change its corporate name to "Meta" and focus its efforts on building an immersive, 3D simulation of a virtual reality experience it references as the metaverse. The company also announced plans for Facebook/Meta's digital wallet Novi to be its primary method of digital exchange for cryptocurrencies and NFTs within the metaverse.

However, results of a new survey of U.S. adults finds that just because they build it, doesn't mean customers will necessarily come.

More than two-thirds aren't interested in the Meta vision of a metaverse

Data technology and survey specialists at Morning Consult fielded a poll from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, 2021, among 2,200 U.S. adults with a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points at a 95% confidence interval. The main findings of the survey include:

• Most of the consumers surveyed aren't totally sold on the idea of the metaverse yet: 68% said that, based on what they know, they're not interested in using Meta's virtual and augmented reality project.
• The greatest interest in the metaverse concept seems to be coming from men and younger individuals, as well as adult urban dwellers.

Most respondents say Facebook tried to rebrand its way out of bad press

Additionally, a majority of respondents didn't fully buy the rebrand story that Facebook/Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg gave for the reasoning driving the name change.

• Zuckerberg publicly shared that the Meta name change is intended to better "reflect who we are and the future we hope to build," however, survey participants were not so sure that was the genuine motivation for changing Facebook to Meta.
• More than half (51%) of those queried as part of this survey, said they believe Meta rebranded in an effort to distance itself from negative media coverage. A plurality of respondents specifically mentioned the recent leak of internal documents that have come to be known as the "Facebook Files" or "Facebook Papers." Approximately 44% of consumers said they've heard about these leaked documents

Lastly, those surveyed had the least favorable ratings for Zuckerberg himself. He received a net favorability rating of negative 32 points. More than half (54%) of adults said they have an unfavorable opinion of him, compared with 22% who said the opposite -- not for nothing, but the latest approval rating for the U.S. Congress is 27%. How does an individual manage to rank below Congress?

Meta's crypto aspirations could die on the metaverse vine

If Meta is not able to reverse this negative sentiment toward the metaverse and its visionary in chief, its efforts to reverse its crypto fortunes will be hamstrung. It doesn't require cloud-based artificial intelligence to know that launching an immersive cryptocurrency platform requires a high degree of trust for potential users. But if those users aren't even interested in visiting the virtual world housing the company's primary crypto asset, that seems to be a much bigger issue for Meta.