The Simpsons is an animated cartoon series famous for predicting actual global happenings, like the COVID-19 pandemic. The animation series has gained an international reputation over the years because of this. The Simpsons also made a prediction of Facebook changing its name to Meta long before 2021. It is the longest aired animation, with over 30 years on screen, and to date, some TV stations still air it.
Fans of the adult cartoon series came out saying that the Simpsons has done it again. In season 23, episode 9 of a 2011 broadcast, Lisa Simpsons is grown up with a family and a daughter. This is three decades later than the original scene when Lisa was a child.
In the episode, Lisa and the daughter, Zia, are seated in the living room. Just like the teenager today who is addicted to social media, Lisa tries to help save her daughter. In the episode, the technology is advanced, and to go online, you have to connect a cable to a port on the neck. Then, you get a 3D experience of the social media networks, all integrated.
A Hybrid Social Media Network
“Online,” the social media network is fascinating; it is a 3D hybrid real-time platform simulating reality, with all social media platforms integrated. Lisa is seen to use Google to search for her daughter’s name, all of which appear in real-time like doors.
Notifications also seem very real as Lisa interacts with the acceptance and ignore buttons, just like Zuckerberg describes. The whole Lisa experience in the social media network (“Online”) clearly describes Mark Zuckerberg’s change of Facebook name to Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg aims to create a hybrid of all social media platforms by creating a Metaverse for them, the “Metaverso.” The Metaverse will not be old boring social media platforms but real-time interactions of friends, where you can take any form as an individual, create a virtual space, and hang out in the space as friends. Meta aims to make education and social interactions online more real.
A Multiverse Metaverse
After finding the daughter’s social media door, Lisa sees a sticky note on the door saying “keep mum away,” typical of teenagers. Lisa gets in, and immediately, Zia fabricates a reality to accommodate her mom. Zia had invited friends over, whom she hides in another reality door. The episode is quite interesting; only imagination and the mind are the limits.
To Lisa’s surprise, Lisa finds out that her daughter adores her and she is her daughter’s icon. Zia’s actual social media space is full of art pieces on the wall in honor of her mom. Lisa is so amazed and manages to make amends with the daughter.
Logging online in the episode makes one entirely out of touch with reality; all your life, emotions, memories, and senses are online. This is what Mark Zuckerberg aims to create, that any moment of boredom, you can create a reality with your imagination and invite friends to join in for a hangout.
However, years later, after the airing of the episode, Mark Zuckerberg released the “Meta ” Reality on 28 October this year, 2021. This is 11 years down the line. Lisa Simpson comments on the episode that Google is still a good search engine even though it has managed to enslave so many people. This is among the fears people have with the release of the “Meta ”.
Fear of the Multiverse Metaverse
Dangers of slavery and out of touch with reality are looming. People fear the human race will no longer be the same, but the virtual world will distort many things. However, Mark Zuckerberg explains there will be limits to the exposure.
A specific animation series goes further to declare a two-day break from the Metaverse every week. We hope Mark Zuckerberg will do this so that people do not lose complete touch with reality. Zuckerberg also explains the meta is not solely for social but education and business purposes.