Hello The Good Life! 😂
Haven't made updates since August, been busy doing so many stuff: writing for websites, managing social media accounts, doing research, and preparing an e-book, oh gosh!
A lot of things happened so better summarize them here.
I. The Queen's Death
Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, in Balmoral Castle, and it was quite devastating. Although at her age (96), death is like an approaching train, it was still profoundly shocking because the Queen was not known to have a lingering illness. You can read articles related to her death in Royal World News.
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| Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022 |
II. Travel in Tagaytay
At last, after nearly three years I was able to travel again outside Metro Manila. It was a trip that had been on my card since May this year but was kept on being postponed due to several reasons.
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| Wind Residences Tagaytay |
I was able to reunite with my two former colleagues during this one-day trip to Tagaytay and it was nice being on the road again with them, hanging out, sharing laughter, food, and long conversations. You can read our detailed Tagaytay getaway in Gourmand Travel Guide.
III. Metaverse in Facebook: Welcome to the world of Avatar!
In the high-tech world, anything is possible. Just a decade ago, I watched James Cameron's Avatar (which had a reissue in the cinema last month) and I cringed when humans became cartoon images when they entered Pandora, a poisonous planet for humans.
Did not realize that Mark Zuckerberg would bring us all there someday lol! Okay so days ago I tried migrating my Facebook pages to Metaverse Business Suite.
It is the new business suite of Facebook where page owners can utilize different tools to grow their business or pages and analyze insights and performances.
Although no need to do the manual migration because it is still Facebook, I find it a bit chaotic. It might be very useful in the future as we get used to its new interface, but I really find it messy and terrible. I still prefer the classic version because it's easy to navigate.
Facebook Incorporated is now Meta
In case you did not know, Facebook Incorporated, the mother company of Facebook, changed its trade name to "Meta", in October 2021, to reflect its focus on building the metaverse.
Meta Platforms Inc owns three of the biggest social networking sites in the world with billions of followers: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Of course, it looks like nothing unusual is happening while we are using Facebook today, but actually, there's this so-called "metaverse". Although, it still “does not fully exist”, it is now slowly introduced to Facebook users.
The metaverse business suite can now be downloaded in the app store for those who want to try how it works. It got quite a lot of buzz from the tech world in October 2021 when Facebook's trade name was changed to Meta, and everyone's asking what that means.
According to Meta, the "metaverse" refers to the integrated environment that links all of the company's products and services. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been showing how it works through his demo clips on instagram and Facebook.
But although I watched the clips and his demonstration, I still struggled to understand it. It sounds like meta + universe, where we have to transport virtually to another universe (because we have to pick our Avatar) to conduct business or just hang out in a tropical resort without leaving our home.
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| Mark Zuckerberg fencing with a hologram, an image of the metaverse’s future. Credit: Meta |
According to USA Today: "It's a combination of multiple elements of technology, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and video where users "live" within a digital universe".
By definition from PCMG: The Metaverse is a platform that Facebook runs. The metaverse is a broad concept of how we interact online, and it just so happens that all of its parts are controlled by Facebook.
As a social networking site, Facebook did not change its name, however, the metaverse is an upgraded platform that runs Facebook. It's a complicated topic to delve so I would not go deeper into details, and just share my personal experience in using the metaverse business suite.
I must say, it's a very professional version especially if you manage Facebook and Instagram pages for business or website promotions. It's a hassle-free version for uploading content, photos, and videos because it allows connection on two platforms.
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| Left: metaverse business suite using facebook (you see there's already an instagram integration) Right: the classic version |
It's a one-stop solution, I must say because it made sharing posts and updates easier. And if your role on a particular page is "admin", the Facebook pages can be switched as a profile (like your personal account) that you can use to comment or like posts around FB, which is an instant promotion of your page/business.
Under the metaverse business suite, when you post content or upload photos and videos on Facebook page, as long as the instagram account of that Facebook page is connected (you need to log in to your instagram page to allow connection or permission of the app) it can be simultaneously posted with just one tick. And if you have groups related to your Facebook page, you can also tick those groups for automatic sharing.
So it makes life easier for people like me who are managing several Facebook and Instagram pages for different websites. It also has several business tools to grow the business or pages, boost a post for a wider audience reach or run Ads.
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| These are Avatars when you enter the metaverse |
However, as of now, I find it messy to navigate. Perhaps because I am still learning the process, I'll give it six months to fully immerse into the metaverse. For now, I prefer the classic version of Facebook.
But to fully immerse and experience the metaverse, you need to use a virtual-reality headset. Facebook has an Oculus Quest 2 headset, which costs $299. The headset consists of a white visor loaded with cameras, microphones, speakers, eye displays, and sensors.
So the moment you switch it on, you have to create your own Avatar and be transported to a different place of your choice, a summer villa, a winter chalet, a tropical resort, or a mountain retreat, or simply hang out in a bar or restaurant and meet people. All avatars. So it's like transporting to the world of Pandora.
But it's an exciting platform. Let's see where it leads us 10 years from now. We need an additional budget to buy Facebook's virtual headset to fully immerse into the metaverse.
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