In the autumn of 2022, I embarked on a journey to explore news innovation opportunities in the metaverse during my fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
The metaverse was being touted as the next revolutionary frontier, backed by Mark Zuckerberg's bold rebranding of Facebook to Meta, and significant investments into the development of a virtual world. Predictions about its potential were staggering, with estimates suggesting a market value of trillions of dollars.
However, as the summer of 2023 arrived, the fervour around the metaverse had diminished, and many were quick to proclaim its untimely demise. In its place, people were now gushing about generative AI and Chat GPT instead.
This is a great example of the conundrum newsrooms face when embracing technology: dive in too soon and risk resources on fleeting trends; wait too long and play catch-up with competitors.
To address this challenge, I’ve proposed a five-step plan that I hope will help newsrooms identify which tech opportunities are worth their time and resources.
