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Brave New World: How the Metaverse May Shape Our Psychology

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Apr 01, 2022

In a book published in 1962 called Diffusion of Innovations, communications theorist Everett Rogers presented a most convincing theory of how innovation spreads and comes to be accepted by users over a period of time. He posited that any new product is initially used only by a small number of innovators, followed by a slightly larger group of early adopters and then the majority.

References

  1. Robertson, T. S. (1967). The process of innovation and the diffusion of innovation. Journal of marketing, 31(1), 14-19.
  2. https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/facebook-company-is-now-meta/
  3. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/microsoft-activision-what-satya-nadella-has-said-about-the-metaverse.html 
  4. https://fortune.com/2022/03/16/hsbc-buys-land-in-metaverse-joins-jpmorgan-decentraland-sandbox/
  5. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/03/how-the-1992-sci-fi-novel-snow-crash-predicted-facebooks-metaverse.html 
  6. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/apple-teases-metaverse-ar-plans-stock-jumps/articleshow/89169214.cms
  7. https://www.matthewball.vc/all/forwardtothemetaverseprimer
  8. Suler, J. (2004). The online disinhibition effect. Cyberpsychology & behavior, 7(3), 321-326.
  9. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60314572
  10. Cinelli, M., Morales, G. D. F., Galeazzi, A., Quattrociocchi, W., & Starnini, M. (2021). The echo chamber effect on social media. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(9).
  11. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/26/facebook-algorithm-conservative-liberal-extremes/ 
  12. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/echo-chambers-filter-bubbles-and-polarisation-literature-review 
  13. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-meta-metaverse-splinter-reality-more-2021-11 
  14. https://www.pacteraedge.com/why-metaverse-must-be-mindful 
  15. Lowry, P. B., Zhang, J., Wang, C., & Siponen, M. (2016). Why do adults engage in cyberbullying on social media? An integration of online disinhibition and deindividuation effects with the social structure and social learning model. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 962-986.
  16. Herring, S. C., & Kapidzic, S. (2015). Teens, gender, and self-presentation in social media. International encyclopedia of social and behavioral sciences, 2, 1-16.
  17. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/14/facebook-aware-instagram-harmful-effect-teenage-girls-leak-reveals
  18. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/05/style/teen-bodybuilding-bigorexia-tiktok.html 
  19. Macït, H. B., Macït, G., & Güngör, O. (2018). A research on social media addiction and dopamine driven feedback. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 5(3), 882-897.
  20. https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/

About the Author

Preeti-Kotamarthi's portrait

Preeti Kotamarthi

Staff Writer · Behavioral Science and User Research at Swiggy

Preeti Kotamarthi has built and led Behavioral Science teams at two of the largest tech companies in Southeast Asia and India. She established the Behavioral Science practice at Grab, helping product and design teams understand customer behavior to create better user experiences. Currently, she heads Behavioral Science and User Research at Swiggy, where she continues to blend data, design, and human insights—drawing inspiration from spending a lot of time with Indian consumers. With a Masters in Behavioral Science from the London School of Economics and an MBA in Marketing from FMS Delhi, Preeti brings over 12 years of experience in consumer products, from co-founding a rural startup in India to shaping behavioral design in tech. Her passion lies in making behavioral science a core part of the product development process. When she’s not uncovering human insights at work, she’s likely busy applying behavioral lessons on her two-year-old.

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