77% of consumers are against Facebook owning metaverse data: survey | ZDNet

According to a recent survey conducted by metaverse gaming company Advokate Group, over 77% of respondents who are interested in joining a metaverse are worried about Facebook owning the data.

What’s more, 87% said they prefer a metaverse on a decentralized blockchain. This sentiment is more prevalent among Gen Z respondents, who were 10% more likely than Millennials to prefer a blockchain metaverse. 

The survey was conducted by Hong Kong-based Advokate Group in January using Amazon’s crowdsourcing survey service, Mechanical Turk. Advokate told ZDNet that the respondents, ages 18 and older, were anonymous and completed the survey through Mechanical Turk’s online portal. 

Half of those surveyed said they’re between the ages of 18 and 25; 21% said they’re between the ages of 33 and 40; 13% said they’re between the ages of 41 and 56; and 4% are age 57 and older. Only one percent said they were under age 20. 

Advokate surveyed more than 1,200 US consumers who said they were familiar with Facebook’s new metaverse. The survey data, however, didn’t provide explanations for many of the questions, such as why respondents are worried about the idea of Facebook owning user data.

When asked what types of activities consumers would use the metaverse for, the most popular choice was gaming, followed by hanging out with friends, work and meetings, attending concerts, workouts, and studying with classmates.

Also: The metaverse is a human rights dilemma

Facebook’s metaverse was the most well-known among those surveyed, with more than 80% stating they’re familiar with its metaverse. Half of those surveyed said they’re familiar with Minecraft, followed by Fortnight, Roblox, and Sandbox. What’s more, when asked how many metaverses people will join in the next few years, 46% said one to two, while 38% said three to four. Nearly 10% said between five and six, however, 7% said they don’t plan to join a metaverse at all.

The amount of time spent each day in a metaverse revealed that 39% would spend between three and four hours a day, just as much as those that would spend up to two hours daily. 

Seven percent said they wouldn’t spend any time in the metaverse on a daily basis.

Perhaps the more intriguing aspect of the survey concerned respondents’ reactions toward the idea of making money in the metaverse. It may be no surprise that 93% of respondents surveyed said they want to earn money that can be transferred outside the metaverse, but 87% said they would switch to full-time gaming versus a traditional job if they knew they could earn about the same amount of money. 

When asked how much would those surveyed need to earn per month to sustain themselves through gaming on a full-time basis, 23% said between $210 and $500, another 23% said between $501 and $1,000, and 22% said between $1,001 and $3,000. Fourteen percent said more than $3,000 a month. The remainder of respondents said less than $200.

The survey also questioned respondents about what features are most important to them in the metaverse. Earning real money was ranked at the top, followed by socializing with other gamers, moving between games without leaving the metaverse, avatar customization, purchasing in-game items, buying NFTs, selling NFTs, and displaying NFTs.

A whopping 48% of respondents said it will take between three to six years for the metaverse to be accepted in the mainstream, followed by 23% who believe it will take seven to 10 years.

Other items of note include 93% of respondents saying they would game more if they could make minimum wage playing, and 87% would switch to full-time gaming if they could get paid, according to the survey.