Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse

Dwivedi, Yogesh K.; Kshetri, Nir; Hughes, Laurie; Rana, Nripendra P.; Baabdullah, Abdullah M.; Kumar Kar, Arpan; Koohang, Alex; Ribeiro-Navarrete, Samuel; Belei, Nina; Balakrishnan, Janarthanan; Basu, Sriparna; Behl, Abhishek; Davies, Gareth H.; Dutot, Vincent; Dwivedi, Rohita; Evans, Leighton; Felix, Reto; Foster-Fletcher, Richard; Giannakis, Mihalis; Gupta, Ashish; Hinsch, Chris; Jain, Animesh; Jane Patel, Nina; Jung, Timothy; Juneja, Satinder; Kamran, Qeis; Mohamed AB, Sanjar; Pandey, Neeraj; Papagiannidis, Savvas; Raman, Ramakrishnan; Rauschnabel, Philipp A.; Tak, Preeti; Taylor, Alexandra; Claudia tom Dieck, M.; Viglia, Giampaolo; Wang, Yichuan; Yan, Meiyi

doi:10.1007/s10796-023-10400-x

Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse

Dwivedi, Yogesh K.; Kshetri, Nir; Hughes, Laurie; Rana, Nripendra P.; Baabdullah, Abdullah M.; Kumar Kar, Arpan; Koohang, Alex; Ribeiro-Navarrete, Samuel; Belei, Nina; Balakrishnan, Janarthanan; Basu, Sriparna; Behl, Abhishek; Davies, Gareth H.; Dutot, Vincent; Dwivedi, Rohita; Evans, Leighton; Felix, Reto; Foster-Fletcher, Richard; Giannakis, Mihalis; Gupta, Ashish; Hinsch, Chris; Jain, Animesh; Jane Patel, Nina; Jung, Timothy; Juneja, Satinder; Kamran, Qeis; Mohamed AB, Sanjar; Pandey, Neeraj; Papagiannidis, Savvas; Raman, Ramakrishnan; Rauschnabel, Philipp A.; Tak, Preeti; Taylor, Alexandra; Claudia tom Dieck, M.; Viglia, Giampaolo; Wang, Yichuan; Yan, Meiyi

Authors

Yogesh K. Dwivedi

Nir Kshetri

Laurie Hughes

Nripendra P. Rana

Abdullah M. Baabdullah

Arpan Kumar Kar

Alex Koohang

Samuel Ribeiro-Navarrete

Nina Belei

Janarthanan Balakrishnan

Sriparna Basu

Abhishek Behl a.behl@keele.ac.uk

Gareth H. Davies

Vincent Dutot

Rohita Dwivedi

Leighton Evans

Reto Felix

Richard Foster-Fletcher

Mihalis Giannakis

Ashish Gupta

Chris Hinsch

Animesh Jain

Nina Jane Patel

Timothy Jung

Satinder Juneja

Qeis Kamran

Sanjar Mohamed AB

Neeraj Pandey

Savvas Papagiannidis

Ramakrishnan Raman

Philipp A. Rauschnabel

Preeti Tak

Alexandra Taylor

M. Claudia tom Dieck

Giampaolo Viglia

Yichuan Wang

Meiyi Yan

Contributors

Y.K. Dwivedi
Other

N. Kshetri
Other

L. Hughes
Other

N.P. Rana
Other

A.M. Baabdullah
Other

A.K. Kar
Other

A. Koohang
Other

S. Ribeiro-Navarrete
Other

N. Belei
Other

J. Balakrishnan
Other

S. Basu
Other

A. Behl
Other

G.H. Davies
Other

V. Dutot
Other

R. Dwivedi
Other

L. Evans
Other

R. Felix
Other

R. Foster-Fletcher
Other

M. Giannakis
Other

A. Gupta
Other

C. Hinsch
Other

A. Jain
Other

N. Jane Patel
Other

T. Jung
Other

S. Juneja
Other

Q. Kamran
Other

S. Mohamed AB
Other

N. Pandey
Other

S. Papagiannidis
Other

R. Raman
Other

P.A. Rauschnabel
Other

P. Tak
Other

A. Taylor
Other

M.C. tom Dieck
Other

G. Viglia
Other

Y. Wang
Other

M. Yan
Other

Abstract

The Metaverse has the potential to form the next pervasive computing archetype that can transform many aspects of work and life at a societal level. Despite the many forecasted benefits from the metaverse, its negative outcomes have remained relatively unexplored with the majority of views grounded on logical thoughts derived from prior data points linked with similar technologies, somewhat lacking academic and expert perspective. This study responds to the dark side perspectives through informed and multifaceted narratives provided by invited leading academics and experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The metaverse dark side perspectives covered include: technological and consumer vulnerability, privacy, and diminished reality, human–computer interface, identity theft, invasive advertising, misinformation, propaganda, phishing, financial crimes, terrorist activities, abuse, pornography, social inclusion, mental health, sexual harassment and metaverse-triggered unintended consequences. The paper concludes with a synthesis of common themes, formulating propositions, and presenting implications for practice and policy.

Citation

Dwivedi, Y. K., Kshetri, N., Hughes, L., Rana, N. P., Baabdullah, A. M., Kumar Kar, A., Koohang, A., Ribeiro-Navarrete, S., Belei, N., Balakrishnan, J., Basu, S., Behl, A., Davies, G. H., Dutot, V., Dwivedi, R., Evans, L., Felix, R., Foster-Fletcher, R., Giannakis, M., Gupta, A., …Yan, M. (2023). Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse. Information Systems Frontiers, 25, 2071–2114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-023-10400-x

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 4, 2023
Online Publication Date	Jun 2, 2023
Publication Date	2023-10
Deposit Date	Jun 27, 2024
Journal	Information Systems Frontiers
Print ISSN	1387-3326
Electronic ISSN	1572-9419
Publisher	Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	25
Pages	2071–2114
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-023-10400-x
Public URL	https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/856027
Publisher URL	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10796-023-10400-x