Plenty of pitfalls await Zuckerberg’s ‘metaverse’ plan

By MATT O’BRIEN and BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writers

Mark Zuckerberg promises that the virtual-reality “metaverse” he’s planning to build will “let you do almost anything.” That might not be such a great idea. On the plus side, as Zuckerberg said in a late October presentation, the metaverse could let you attend virtual concerts with your friends, fence with holograms of Olympic athletes and — best of all — join mixed-reality business meetings. But the dystopian downsides are also easy to imagine, ranging from much more detailed surveillance and data collection to online trolls who can shout into your face instead of just typing nasty messages.