Facebook Evolution: Will It Be Good or Bad for Human Existence?

As more issues are raised about Facebook’s impact on the world and how it utilises personal data to amplify people’s fears and concerns to drive participation, it does seem odd that the corporation is also suggesting we, humans, incorporate Facebook into more elements of our daily lives for a brighter future.

This may not seem like the most obvious correlation, but new photos of Facebook’s upcoming smartwatch project, which will officially be a Meta project, have surfaced.

On the outside, the Facebook wristwatch will resemble an Apple Watch, with the addition of a front-facing camera on the primary screen, as shown in this back-end code image for its Ray-Ban Stories smartglasses.

According to Bloomberg, the image depicts a watch with a curved screen and casing. There’s a front-facing camera like on a smartphone at the bottom of the screen, and a watch controls on the right side.”

With a front-facing camera and a 1080p auto-focus camera on the back, the watch can be used for video calling and recording video when the stainless steel frame is removed.

Facebook’s expanding research into interpreting muscle movements from your wrist as a control tool in digital surroundings is also expected to be included in the project.  In the Facebook Connect conference this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was keen to show it out.

Humans do not want to put on VR gloves every time they want to do something, thus a less obtrusive control device is needed.

It’s still unclear if Facebook – or Meta – can be trusted to host a far more immersive, and thus far more destructive, experience for users in this new digital realm.

For example, if Facebook can deliver on even a majority of the promises made in its presentations, it will certainly stimulate interest. Even so, as shown in the recent ‘Facebook Files’ revelations, Facebook’s systems have serious faults, intended or not, that will become more harmful as they consume more of your attention and brain space.

To illustrate, consider the assertion that Instagram is damaging to young girls — it’s reasonable to assume that such dangers would be magnified in a completely immersive social environment. To be sure, advocating the usage of avatars rather than your real image will be promoted by Meta in order to mitigate the impact of such a process. Will it, however, be successful? It is possible to target individuals for a variety of reasons other than physical characteristics, and if this occurs in what is anticipated to be your primary social arena, it will have a more substantial influence.

In an interview with Intelligencer earlier this week, tech journalist Kara Swisher noted Facebook’s persistent “glass half full” attitude toward its tools:

“When they were debuting Facebook Live, I had a million questions about abuse. And they were like, “What are you talking about?” It was so typical. It wasn’t [Zuckerberg], but it was his people – people who were like him who just reflect him. They were like, “You’re such a bummer, Kara.” And I’m like, “Okay, I’m a bummer, I guess, but I think someone’s going to kill someone on this thing and broadcast it.” And it didn’t take long before there was a mass murder on it. The idea of consequences seems to escape them almost entirely because most of them have never had an unsafe day in their lives.”

Most of Facebook’s projects focus on the great benefits while ignoring the possible drawbacks and repercussions.

Humans are good, and so providing them more means to connect can only be a good thing, Zuckerberg believes.

We recognise this is not always the case, and that there must be safeguards and mechanisms in place to prevent abuse. The metaverse, which Facebook has been constructing over time, may now be able to better implement. Given the platform’s past, I’m not sure humans can trust Zuck and Co. to have fully considered the impact of more deep involvement.

Unlike Facebook, Meta isn’t a social media platform. Right? The two are distinct, with the Meta name implying a new direction. Meta is different.

Now Facebook wants to be in your home, on your wrist, and even become your entire interactive space, absorbing more of your day-to-day experience, in more ways.

And Zuckerberg’s vision of the future of connection has immense potential. Does Facebook, on the other hand, appear ready to facilitate this next step in our relationship?