Over time, the word "metaverse" has increased in usage, and as a result, it has grown to be a significant term in contemporary discussions of technological advancement. It is currently one of the three words vying to be sealed and chosen as the Oxford Word of the Year (WOTY) in a competition run by the Oxford University Press (OUP), the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary.
The development of the metaverse ecosystem has enjoyed massive advancement, so it is no surprise it is in the running to be crowned the Oxford Word of the Year. This year marks the first time that the public's input will be sought in determining the Oxford Word of the Year. On November 22nd, OUP officially announced the contest's establishment and its three-shortened word for 2022.
"Metaverse" will compete against the terms "#IStandWith" and "Goblin Mode."
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In the video pitch released by the Oxford University Press for the metaverse, it illustrated the metaverse as "a hypothetical virtual reality environment in which users interact with one another’s avatars and their surroundings in an immersive way."
"The term dates back to the 1990s, with the first recorded use in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1992 in the science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson," the video stated.
Oxford emphasizes that "metaverse" has mushroomed in usage as of October 2022. The comparison was made against the word usage analysis in October 2022, and the difference seems immense and mind-blowing, indicating that the usage of the word has increased greatly amongst language speakers, mostly because of the recent advancements recorded, which are amazingly nothing compared to what is yet to be explored on the ecosystem.
The video mentioned that more lifestyle and work-connected operations taking place in virtual reality environments may bring about "more debates over the ethics and feasibility of an entirely online future."
As for the other two WOTY candidates, "#IStandWith" has become an increasingly used phrase for political activism, while "Goblin Mode" emerged as a post-COVID-19 lockdown concept in which one rejects "returning back to normal" and instead does what they want to do.
Metaverse is a digital space positioned by experts as the next phase of the internet. It is a space where avatars will act as humans and they will be able to do whatever they want to do on it. It is one of the exciting phenomena out there in the 21st century and experts project that once it is fully explored, the world would shift into a fast-paced, unhindered and smooth internet space.
OUP has made voting accessible for the public as there is a poll currently ongoing on Twitter. This stands as a good spotlight for the metaverse, a space that is gradually blossoming and transitioning humans to the peak of the internet. In the next coming years, even if Metaverse does not clinch the first position, winning the contest will be inevitable as there are works on ground running to ensure that it becomes a more accessible and available terrain to humanity.
