The Irony of Digital Identity: How the Metaverse Reveals Our Truest Selves
Identity is about more than how you look, it’s about who you are. Our identity is how we want the world to see us, and how we see ourselves. With most of us now spending 8 hours a day online, who we are is being amplified through our avatars, social posts and profile pictures.
As the metaverse goes mainstream and becomes increasingly immersive, our virtual selves will influence our real selves impacting what we buy, the people we meet, and how we signal our status. This is not theoretical. The Proteus Effect is a proven phenomenon studied by Stanford researchers Jeremy Bailenson and Nick Yee that examines how our digital avatars impact our real-life perceptions and behaviors.
According to the study, users with taller avatars are more assertive and dominant; users with more attractive avatars are more intimate and confident – even in the real world. The more time we spend online, the more common this will become. Future-focused brands have an opportunity to empower this evolution and drive growth through connecting with the consumer inside the avatar.
In 2006, when Mark Zuckerberg required us all to use our real names to join Facebook, he fused our real selves to our social profiles. While it may have seemed logical at the time, it was a departure from how we previously appeared on sites like AOL or MySpace where anonymity was allowed. Zuckerberg’s mandate led to our Facebook identity and social graph becoming digital shadows of their physical counterparts. The metaverse will spawn a second revolution.
Built on the blockchain, web3 allows us to become pseudonymous, meaning we can build a consistent reputation, identity and network without having to expose our physical identity.
Many of web3’s top builders and thought leaders are already pseudonymous like Gmoney, Punk 6529, and 4156. Gen Z and millennials have been embracing the spirit of pseudonymity for years with their finstas, alts and burner accounts – but without the blockchain they could only go so far. The rise of NFTs, digital clothing, and avatar upgrades is fueling the reinvention of self-expression and birthing a $50 billion business as we define our digital lifestyles.
Ironically the more we embrace our digital selves, the more real we become. Breaking free of our physical identity feels good and allows us to become anything or anyone we want. This is a wide-open whitespace for brands to build on.
Startups like Genies aren't wasting any time. The platform lets users create their own 3D animated avatar and buy digital clothing and accessories as NFTs. Paris Hilton, Cardi B, and Justin Bieber are already on board, along with Gucci and Universal Music Group. The Dematerialized and DressX are two other startups breaking ground in digital fashion with limited edition pieces that can be shown off in digital wallets, worn as augmented reality filters for Instagram, in Zoom calls, or seen on your avatar in metaverse hotspots like Decentraland which will host the first Metaverse Fashion Week in March.
Back in the analog world, consumers are finding ways to flex their digital goods in innovative ways from backpacks with built-in screens, to custom-designed connected jewelry. Outside of fashion, brands are preparing for a near future that digitizes other aspects of our identity.
L’Oreal recently filed for 17 patents relating to the metaverse across a range of applications including subsidiary brands Kiehl’s, Maybelline, Pureology, Urban Decay, Matrix and Redken, among others. In eight of the filings, L’Oréal stakes claim to “providing a metaverse for people to browse, accumulate, buy, sell and trade virtual cosmetics.” More specifically these include cosmetics, makeup preparations, skincare, brushes and even perfumery to be sold for virtual avatars along with hair care, hair styles, and hair coloring preparations for avatar only usage. Sure, it all sounds strange now, but only through the lens of the present.
Don’t forget, it wasn't too long ago that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were mocked as silly millennial trends. Gen Z is even more digital, and Alpha Generation (those born after Gen Z) will spend more time in the metaverse than their parents spent in the mall.
Millions of our personal profile pictures have already transformed into Bored Apes, Cool Cats, and Pudgy Penguins, along with other adjective+animal combinations to signal status. With 74% of consumers recently saying they are ready to join the metaverse it won’t be long before digital duplicates of everyday products become the default.
The rise in time spent online is accelerating the journey from the fringe to the mainstream and brands need to be ready for it. They need to keep a constant focus on the future and create growth strategies with the understanding that virtual is our new reality and our identities are no longer bound in biology.