Behold the metaverse

Facebook’s Meta imaginary and the circulation of elite discourse

Bibliographic Data

ID6443570
AuthorsBrent Lucia (0000-0003-4666-8340, University of Connecticut), Matthew A Vetter (0000-0002-4590-5677, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, corresponding author), Adubofour Isaac (0000-0001-5648-9800, Indiana University of Pennsylvania), Isaac Kwabena Adubofour (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
Year2023
Volume27
Issue2
Pages790-807
Publication date2023-07-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448231184249
OpenAlexW4383721467
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited39

Despite pushback from regulatory and non-governmental entities, Meta’s control over the public narrative remains consistent. Using a method of corpus analysis, this study investigated the company’s sociotechnical imaginary as it circulates in media artifacts (428) responding to Zuckerberg’s 2021 Metaverse announcement. Analysis of how these artifacts respond to issues related to identity, security, and connectivity revealed that the majority amplify Meta’s corporate messaging, empowering its elite discourse and solidifying its socio-technological power. As it relates to user privacy, however, this study uncovered a limited number of artifacts in which journalists challenged rather than repeated Meta’s rhetoric. As an implication of this finding, future tech journalism should consider privacy as a starting point for critiques that also interrogate the underlying logic of surveillance capitalism and user exploitation. Ultimately, this article addresses the rhetorical functions deployed in the circulation of elite discourse while acknowledging the dynamism of sociotechnical imaginaries

Aesthetics · Elite · Identity (music · Journalism · Knowledge management · Linguistics · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Sociotechnical system · The Imaginary · Computer Science · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Media and Politics

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