“For the affordable Quest headset specifically, I think that they’ve kind of mirrored the adoption and usage journey of things like the Nintendo Wii,” Gebbie says. “That kind of affordable gadget that you buy as a family thing that you give to your kids.”
Horizon still has adult fans, and in their eyes, the kids are not alright. You can find thread after thread on Reddit of people complaining about children ruining the vibes of virtual spaces like VR chat. Or hear horror stories about kids getting into sketchy situations—being exposed to bullying or harassment by other kids or, more worryingly, adults.
Higgin says this friction is typical of social spaces that include a wide range of age groups, as kids just have a different way of relating and interacting with the world than adults do. “And in these spaces, that makes it hard for any adult to tolerate,” he says. “The whole crowding around, and everyone talking at once, and just shouting memes. Meta might not have a choice here. It might be the first, like, takeover by kids of a virtual digital space that I can think of.”
In 2018, Bailenson coauthored a report with the children’s advocacy organization Common Sense Media that offers advice to parents who have concerns about what their kids experience in VR. It encourages keeping VR use sessions short, utilizing parental content controls, and, most importantly, participating or at least keeping an eye on what their kid is getting up to in their virtual world.
“They’re anonymous, their parents can’t see what they’re doing like they can on a normal TV or video game, and there’s no physical consequences their actions might bring them in the real world,” says Bailenson. “That trifecta is what’s enabling a lot of this behavior.”
Playground Rules
Really though, the kids are doing kid things. Running around, playing with bubble guns and interactive objects, chatting with friends and making new ones. Many of the kids in Horizon Worlds are friendly, and they run right up to other users to wave or say hi. In offshoot rooms, they play games like tag or floor-is-lava. Lots of areas in the shared Horizon rooms just feels like a playground, reverberating with laughter, yelling, and the occasional shrieks of adolescent anger. Kid stuff!
But the metaverse also has an underbelly. Spend enough time cruising around in Horizon, and while it may look like a cartoon wonderland, you’re bound to see the seedy side of humanity emerge. And experts have criticized the platform and Meta’s sometimes allegedly lax approach to policing its virtual spaces. After all, the company doesn’t have a great track record of protecting kids on Facebook or their privacy. Nor is Meta all that interested in cultivating its own transparency.
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