Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse

Yogesh K. Dwivedi*, Nir Kshetri, Laurie Hughes, Nripendra P. Rana, Abdullah M. Baabdullah, Arpan Kumar Kar, Alex Koohang, Samuel Ribeiro-Navarrete, Nina Belei, Janarthanan Balakrishnan, Sriparna Basu, Abhishek Behl, Gareth H. Davies, Vincent Dutot, Rohita Dwivedi, Leighton Evans, Reto Felix, Richard Foster-Fletcher, Mihalis Giannakis, Ashish GuptaChris Hinsch, Animesh Jain, Nina Jane Patel, Timothy Jung, Satinder Juneja, Qeis Kamran, Sanjar Mohamed AB, Neeraj Pandey, Savvas Papagiannidis, Ramakrishnan Raman, Philipp A. Rauschnabel, Preeti Tak, Alexandra Taylor, M. Claudia tom Dieck, Giampaolo Viglia, Yichuan Wang, Meiyi Yan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

86 Citations (Scopus)
27 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Metaverse has the potential to form the next pervasive computing archetype that can transform many aspects of work and life at a societal level. Despite the many forecasted benefits from the metaverse, its negative outcomes have remained relatively unexplored with the majority of views grounded on logical thoughts derived from prior data points linked with similar technologies, somewhat lacking academic and expert perspective. This study responds to the dark side perspectives through informed and multifaceted narratives provided by invited leading academics and experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The metaverse dark side perspectives covered include: technological and consumer vulnerability, privacy, and diminished reality, human–computer interface, identity theft, invasive advertising, misinformation, propaganda, phishing, financial crimes, terrorist activities, abuse, pornography, social inclusion, mental health, sexual harassment and metaverse-triggered unintended consequences. The paper concludes with a synthesis of common themes, formulating propositions, and presenting implications for practice and policy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2071-2114
Number of pages44
JournalInformation systems frontiers
Volume25
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023

Keywords

  • Dark side of the metaverse
  • Metaverse
  • Negative consequences
  • Second life
  • Unintended consequences
  • Virtual reality
  • Virtual world

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