Virtual Realities, Real Societies: The Metaverse Effect

Abstract

Digital environments are becoming increasingly intertwined with our daily lives. Hence, understanding the complex interplay between virtual realities and real-world societies is crucial. The chapter concentrates on the delicate relationship between the metaverse and the social structures. Digital spaces or metaverse platforms, as such, mirror and impact society by changing people's norms, behaviors, and arrangements. The chapter explicates how the digital spaces often reaffirm, contest, or reform existing social structures with similarities between virtual communities and their local counterparts depicted. The chapter also shows how virtual realities are both the mirror as well as the reshaper of the aspect of social hierarchy, cultural norms and power dynamics.