Feeling the Elephant: Insiders’ Perspectives on the Metaverse

The metaverse has been considered in various literature reviews as a multifaceted and complex concept that can not be defined from a single set of terms. These literature reviews have attempted the Metaverse definition based on the research most published before the heated attention on the Metaverse in 2021; therefore, they may not provide an up-to-date understanding of the phenomenon that incorporates the perspectives from the industry. This paper aims to disentangle the complexity of the Metaverse concept considering the perspectives of insiders - practitioners who play essential roles in the recent Metaverse wave. To achieve our goal, we analyzed one specific type of gray literature - a podcast series from Bloomberg entitled “Into the Metaverse” which featured different professionals active in the Metaverse landscape. Three themes were identified that represent the essential characteristics of the Metaverse which include technology capabilities, infrastructure characteristics, and social and economic aspects. Our study contributes to a more contemporary industrial understanding of the Metaverse concept. The understanding can assist researchers in future investigations into the evolving Metaverse paradigm.