VR enthusiasts can finally cut the Facebook cord next month
Want to learn more about the future of the video game industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging parts of the industry in October at GamesBeat Summit Next. Learn more.
Meta (Facebook) buying Oculus and requiring a Facebook account to use the device is a big reason I bought an HTC Vive instead of any Oculus device. I have a Facebook account, but it's not used very much.
It's not so much that I really care about my data: I mostly live and work on the web. My data is there. But I like the polite fiction that a website or company isn't going to provide that data to anyone willing to pay.
I mean, they absolutely will. That's how it works, mostly. But the fiction is comforting. It's kind of like how people refuse to use Facebook but are happy to use Instagram.
So it was a device-hungry eye that learned that Meta would start rolling out Meta accounts in August. New accounts are required; If Quest owners used a Facebook account or a Facebook/Oculus merged account, they will need to immediately create a Meta account. Users who used an Oculus account will be able to continue using it until January 2023.
EventMetaBeat 2022
MetaBeat will bring together thought leaders from across the Metaverse to advise on how Metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business on October 3-4 in San Francisco, CA.
> register hereUsers migrating accounts should continue to have access to all of their history and purchases, which is pretty important. Previously, deleting your Facebook account would cause you to lose all of your Oculus purchases.
The change is happening, at least in part, thanks to a promise from Oculus boss Palmer Luckey. When Facebook originally bought Oculus for $2 billion, Luckey took to Reddit to appease fans promising Oculus owners would never need a Facebook account to log in.
A few months later, Facebook announced that a Facebook account would be required in the future. Although it was Luckey who made the promise, he was speaking on behalf of and with the support of Facebook.
People were pretty angry about the betrayal. This whole shift from needing a Facebook account to needing a Meta account seems to be (finally) trying to fulfill that broken promise.
The move to a Meta account is meant to reflect the move away from traditional social media to a more metaverse-focused environment. But part of the new account creation process requires creating a Meta Horizon profile.
This happens to be a social media profile that will appear both in VR environments and elsewhere on the web. The biggest change is that users can create multiple Meta accounts, instead of being limited to just one account.
Of course every new Meta account will have a Meta Horizon social media account as part of the process - which is going to be great but... data collection and sales.
Once users have created a Meta account, they can choose to link a Facebook account to it. If users choose to link a Facebook or Instagram account, they can connect with friends to invite them to VR activities.
But like I said. It's the polished fiction that I love. There are a lot of social media hooks from the company that makes Facebook. But until the Meta brand is as tarnished as the Facebook brand, I can live with it.
Want to learn more about the future of the video game industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging parts of the industry in October at GamesBeat Summit Next. Learn more.
Meta (Facebook) buying Oculus and requiring a Facebook account to use the device is a big reason I bought an HTC Vive instead of any Oculus device. I have a Facebook account, but it's not used very much.
It's not so much that I really care about my data: I mostly live and work on the web. My data is there. But I like the polite fiction that a website or company isn't going to provide that data to anyone willing to pay.
I mean, they absolutely will. That's how it works, mostly. But the fiction is comforting. It's kind of like how people refuse to use Facebook but are happy to use Instagram.
So it was a device-hungry eye that learned that Meta would start rolling out Meta accounts in August. New accounts are required; If Quest owners used a Facebook account or a Facebook/Oculus merged account, they will need to immediately create a Meta account. Users who used an Oculus account will be able to continue using it until January 2023.
EventMetaBeat 2022
MetaBeat will bring together thought leaders from across the Metaverse to advise on how Metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business on October 3-4 in San Francisco, CA.
> register hereUsers migrating accounts should continue to have access to all of their history and purchases, which is pretty important. Previously, deleting your Facebook account would cause you to lose all of your Oculus purchases.
The change is happening, at least in part, thanks to a promise from Oculus boss Palmer Luckey. When Facebook originally bought Oculus for $2 billion, Luckey took to Reddit to appease fans promising Oculus owners would never need a Facebook account to log in.
A few months later, Facebook announced that a Facebook account would be required in the future. Although it was Luckey who made the promise, he was speaking on behalf of and with the support of Facebook.
People were pretty angry about the betrayal. This whole shift from needing a Facebook account to needing a Meta account seems to be (finally) trying to fulfill that broken promise.
The move to a Meta account is meant to reflect the move away from traditional social media to a more metaverse-focused environment. But part of the new account creation process requires creating a Meta Horizon profile.
This happens to be a social media profile that will appear both in VR environments and elsewhere on the web. The biggest change is that users can create multiple Meta accounts, instead of being limited to just one account.
Of course every new Meta account will have a Meta Horizon social media account as part of the process - which is going to be great but... data collection and sales.
Once users have created a Meta account, they can choose to link a Facebook account to it. If users choose to link a Facebook or Instagram account, they can connect with friends to invite them to VR activities.
But like I said. It's the polished fiction that I love. There are a lot of social media hooks from the company that makes Facebook. But until the Meta brand is as tarnished as the Facebook brand, I can live with it.
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