@wim_v12e I've mentioned the website mechanism in an earlier HN post:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27410503

The though first occurred to me in the context of Ling's Cars and its ... exhuberant ... design ethic:
https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/7TOJTiDEF_L4r_sdBRINGw

powerful.

#facebook #metaverse #excusion #discrimination #VeblenGoods #VeblenClubs #StatusSignaling #MarketSegmentation

@wim_v12e In thinking through possible validations for the metaverse, an earlier realisation emerges again.

I've previously argued that large, bloated, slow websites requiring highly-provisioned systems and high bandwidth are a market-segmentation technique, adopted either intentionally or accidentally.

In a world in which anyone anywhere can access online services, and the Web and Internet are increasingly used for commercial activity and as a power- and wealth-signalling mechanism, such sites serve as high-value shopping and entertainment districts in the physical world.

There's also the fact that Facebook originated as a socially-appealing cohort of highly-selective university students, a cachet it's long since lost.

The Metaverse reimposes those costs on participants, requiring vastly greater end-user resources. It also creates a capabilities moat among system providers which only a very small set of present tech giants could possibly hope to meet.

In short: it's an attempt to re-create a highly-selective, highly-limited, members-only club of the well-heeled and powerful.

#facebook #metaverse #excusion #discrimination #VeblenGoods #VeblenClubs