I noted how Meta's Reality Labs conspicuously didn't mention "the metaverse" even once in its "Why We Still Believe in the Future" update post last month, and now there's some new data which might explain its absence.
According to a survey conducted last month by Blind, the popular anonymous messaging app for company staff, confidence in the Metaverse and Meta's efforts dropped sharply last year. That's compared to a November 2021 Blind survey where the very same questions were asked. (Methodology below.)
To the statement, "I believe Meta will successfully build the metaverse" (above), only 50% of employees answered yes. In November 2021, 77% of staff answered in the affirmative.
To put that in concrete terms, Blind asked Meta staff if its platform would reach 1 billion users within the next decade. (A goal that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has often mentioned.) Most of his employees aren't confident on that score:
42% say Yes. In November 2021, 67% answered Yes.
In both cases, that represents a one year drop of 27%.
There were also some interesting results when Blind asked new questions about future sales of its Quest line, and whether Meta employees and Zuckerberg himself can even clearly explain what the Metaverse even is:
