Meta Platforms, Inc. Class A Common Stock

Now I’m not a chart guy and I have no idea what the chart is telling me and I much rather learn the business then look at a chart but at what point do people realize that the hate Facebook is getting is overblown. Mark built Facebook from nothing and turned it into something people use everyday. The company is far from dead and the numbers show that. Mark is betting his company on the metaverse and I respect it, that’s conviction. He is betting what he built on the metaverse. I think at some point you have to respect that. Yeah he may be early, yeah we may not know his plans for the metaverse fully but this could be an investment of a lifetime if he pulls it off. And yeah I know what about Apple glasses, all I can say is there we will wait and see. No threat as of now **$META** 

I continue to own Meta, but I think it might be dangerous to hold it FOR the vision of the metaverse, which is really just an enhanced version of the internet.

The old saying, “history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes” is something I think about. Back in the 1990s, most people appeared to ‘know’ or have some vague idea about what the internet would be. More astute observers had a richer understanding, related to how this ‘thing’ would ultimately shape the world’s communication, commerce, and connectivity. I am not here to discuss the overzealous sentiment for internet stocks and the ensuing 2000 bubble, however.
Back in this period, the term ‘information superhighway’ was coined to refer to the opportunity that would come from digital communication and internet telecommunications. This superhighway, constructed of telephones, computers, satellites, and other communication devices, would allow users to transport themselves and goods through a global network. It was oft-cited in media, as you can see from the below Time Magazine cover, dated 1993.

![](https://cdn.commonstock.com/6df9deb50cba6f7dd51271362c6a0052fa351b16f6e9f4f65df5f0ccbb479e30-400x527.png)

Or this 1994 front cover of Popular Mechanics Magazine, outlining how “you’ll shop, bank, learn, be entertained, and more via interactive TV”.

![](https://cdn.commonstock.com/d31b153d893b091b9ea2d6e2665e11afb1507573cd9f0b9664fceaf37f182c1c-360x500.png)

What _actually_ happened, however, was quite different. The internet was originally assumed to be a business model _**for**_ this highway, but after the explosive growth of the web, the internet essentially _**became**_ the information highway. The narrative was enough to help people digest it.

![](https://cdn.commonstock.com/138716246a350d5654b4db625f63a74182c4175454a8e59cf6838a5d72462cf3-680x335.png)

With the popularisation of ‘Web3’ and ‘the Metaverse’, had me considering the similarities between 1990 and today. Some suggest that Web3 is simply a rebrand of ‘crypto’, to help VCs, others seem to mistakenly believe that the ‘metaverse’ is some digital oasis (like Ready Player One) and that humans will suddenly become a zombified race of VR headset-donning plebs.


![](https://cdn.commonstock.com/5a7939795306c6583a67bf9db8bdbb6d4932ee23e59ca168c18228a6518d4548-680x453.png)

The reality will probably, as it has in the past, be something quite different. I guess my point is, although what was promised of this highway in 1990 (shopping, banking, communicating) all came to fruition, it didn’t come to fruition in the _way_ that was catching headlines. These terms; metaverse, web3, really have no meaning and are more so reflective of where the world might be heading, not necessarily _**how**_ it gets there.

Back in 2003, during this same period of ‘early internet’, the people at San Fran-based studio, Linden Lab, created a game titled “Second Life”. Launched three years after the ‘Sims’ game, another game that pioneered this passive living social experience game mechanic, Second Life marketed itself to be more than just a game, with founders proclaiming **“There is no manufactured conflict, no set objective".**

The project was created in 1999, with founder Phillip Rosedale seeking to create hardware that would allow users to become engulfed in a virtual world. With weak demand for the prototype, he later shifted course and settled for a software adaptation. Second Life promised escapism, avatars, its own currency, its own economy, and the ability to be whoever you wished to be in this new… second…life. Gaining popularity in 2005, the world soon had 1M users, before dwindling into the abyss. We could go down the wormhole here, but the point I wanted to make is that it’s eerily similar to what Facebook is attempting to do with their Reality Labs division. More specifically, Horizon Worlds.


![](https://cdn.commonstock.com/1a1b17a8b9b054c9b38c1c29ad52c1fe8593853638d0b53d2c091f7f8843cb5d-750x647.png)

The difference is that now we have the technology, the awareness and the demand to allow hardware to be a larger part of the equation. Since Second Life was born, the mobile phone became ‘the’ screen, and immersive experiences have slowly begun to migrate towards AR and VR, with some suspecting _**they**_ could supplant the mobile as the new screen. The idea of ‘the metaverse’ is something which has existed for decades, in my opinion. We lead digital lives simply by presenting an alternate version of ourselves on Social Media. We build communities and meet friends on Reddit, on Twitter, through gaming, and even through apps like Tinder and Hinge. Meta’s vision simply accentuates that with VR, bringing the connectivity and interaction to a new, oft richer, level.

Is that good for humanity? Like the initial explosion of Facebook blue, and Instagram it’s easy to find flaws and consequences. But it’s also easy to underappreciate just how seismic of an impact it had on humans and their ability to connect, communicate, and form communities across the world. I feel that, if VR/AR ever does amount to a similarly explosive S-Curve of adoption, then it comes with its own unique set of foibles and benefits.

Undefined

Time to buy META 

This member connected a brokerage account and is sharing trades and portfolio performance with the community. 