A European Union plan to throw a virtual party in the “metaverse” to engage young people in its policies flopped spectacularly after only six people turned up. | Jack Parrock
A European Union plan to throw a virtual party in the “metaverse” to engage young people in its policies flopped spectacularly after only six people turned up.
The EU Commission’s foreign aid department splashed out £332,000 to create the metaverse - an online square where people could log in to a virtual concert to meet others and learn about the bloc.The event, with its own virtual DJs playing music on repeat, was supposed to be so digitally enticing to young people that once they were there the EU would be able to educate them about its development policy.exposed the disappointing turnout.
The event’s target audience, according to the commission, was 18-35 year olds “who identify as neutral about the EU and are not particularly engaged in political issues”. Brussels unveiled the metaverse in mid-October, but it has struggled to gain support from even those working on it in the EU department.reports that one source from within the European Commission called the special metaverse, “digital garbage”.“It’s a travesty that an EU institution feels the need to throw hundreds of thousands of euros behind this nonsense,” Jacob Kirkegaard of the German Marshall Fund said. “Anyone with a brain knows the metaverse is a dud.
Responding to the criticism, an EU spokesman admitted: “The metaverse is not meeting our expectations. In its current state, its user interface is not user-friendly and appealing enough.”
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