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‘The road to the metaverse is not a straight one’: Social representations of virtual reality in the news media
Örebro University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1011-7726
Jönköping University, School of Engineering, JTH, Supply Chain and Operations Management.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8993-4306
2025 (English)In: Convergence. The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, ISSN 1354-8565, E-ISSN 1748-7382Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Sustainable development
00. Sustainable Development, 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
Abstract [en]

The metaverse is considered by some to be the next big thing in the global economy. Despite technological progress and high expectations, scholars agree that a broader metaverse platform does not yet exist. Instead, it has been suggested that the metaverse exists mainly as an imaginary or a representation in various discursive contexts. However, studies that examine such representations are few, and the present study aims to – through the lens of social representation theory – critically explore how VR technology and the metaverse are discursively represented in Swedish news media. The analysis identifies three underlying themata: (a) The inevitability of technology, (b) The commodification of experience, and (c) The world of male pioneers. It is concluded that the news media?s representation of VR and the metaverse contributes greatly to maintaining the structural status quo. For traditional journalism to fulfill its democratic mission, a pervasive update of media logic is needed.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2025.
Keywords [en]
Critical media studies, digital media, discourse, metaverse, news journalism, social representation theory, tech industry power, tech journalism, VR, virtual reality
National Category
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-67462DOI: 10.1177/13548565251325530Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105000536674Local ID: HOA;;1946891OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-67462DiVA, id: diva2:1946891
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2021-00660Available from: 2025-03-24 Created: 2025-03-24 Last updated: 2025-04-15

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Olausson, UlrikaEngström, Annika

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