Metaverse governance:
The need for governance in metaverse spaces is clear, as technology increases so does the ability of one entity to govern it decrease, this is due to having to deal with the fact that the technology is continually becoming more privatised, and decentralised and as it is not owned by the government it presents a problem as they have to create policy for technologies that they have very few ways of regulating, this is shown in a key way by crypto currency regulation as most of those in the US as the big crypto players only stood and testified for crypto recently to help government define and legislate it. Thus, it is important for us to notice this macrotrend when we talk about Web 3.0 and the metaverse as technology is not only becoming more privatised, the people who are making moves in this space to develop these technologies are the Zuckerberg’s and the big tech companies, but also harder to regulate since the blockchain by nature is a decentralised system. Nowhere is this clearer than when one considers the nature of DAOs or decentralised autonomous organisations. These organisations, were designed to create decentralised government with everyone that has a token having a say in how the DAO is run. This however does not mean that they are without issue, despite giving everyone a say as to whether the policy of the DAO should change as they still present the classic problem within a democracy of someone being a change agent for the good of the community or choosing something that benefits personally but damages the DAO.
These new forms of governance and new forms of communities enabled by the technologies require oversight, despite initial celebrations about the decentralised nature of the technology and putting power in the hands of the people. This is because despite handing so much power over to the individual, there are also no fail safes if something goes wrong, and no reversals of posts due to the immutable nature of the blockchain. Thus, it is imperative for the communities that run the blockchain to be able to create technology that enables the moderation of these new technologies and censorship while maintaining strong community and decentralisation.
Web 3.0 technologies focus on the representation of self, this is clear in the perceived nature of the value being generated in the space with NFTs being created and sold for amounts of money that currently floor traditional investment methodology. Thus, as it is about representation of self, without necessarily considering physical factors, there is a surprising remnant of principles and values that must be communicated within the metaverse. Humans need principle, morals, and ethics to form strong community and without these the community disintegrates into much hate as we have seen through many inflammatory social media posts during election times, or social media videos that have sparked protests for social justice.
Thus, when we consider governance within the metaverse we firstly have to consider how people within the blockchain community are creating technologies that enable moderation and good governance without hurting decentralisation and community, furthermore we need to consider how technology can be used to enable the good representation of values and ethics within the community space so as to mitigate the negatives inherent in Web 3.0 organisations while promoting systems and processes that create and foster resilient, intentionality and emotionally intelligent communities. As in the absence of centralisation it is these strong codes that will guide people’s behaviour towards a prosperous future.
