Most people were on the fence about participation in the Metaverse. A majority (52%) said "it depended on what they could contribute and consume in an alternate reality," 29% stated "no, I watched The Matrix and it scares me," while one fifth said "hell yes, I want to do what is not possible in reality!"

Younger respondents-aged 18-29 (28% yes, 55% maybe, 17% no), Millennials (32% yes, 55% maybe, 13% no), and Generation Z (32% yes, 50% maybe, 18% no); minorities-Hispanics (29% yes, 53% maybe, 18% no) and African Americans (28% yes, 51% maybe, 21% no), large city residents (30% yes, 48% maybe, 22% no), and Democrats (26% yes, 53% maybe, 21% no) were the most likely sub-groups to want to participate in the Metaverse. The lure of being able to do what's not possible was too enticing.

Older voters-aged 50-64 (13% yes, 51% maybe, 35% no), 65+ (3% yes, 45% maybe, 53% no) and Baby Boomers (5% yes, 50% maybe, 45% no), Republicans (15% yes, 50% maybe, 35% no), voters in the Central Great/Lakes region (14% yes, 51% maybe, 35% no), Whites (16% yes, 51% maybe, 33% no), suburban women (13% yes, 48% maybe, 39% no) and rural women (11% yes, 52% maybe, 38% no) were the least likely to want to participate in the Metaverse, even going as far as saying that they had "seen The Matrix and it scared them!"

Among the multi-variate sub-groups, urban parents (38% yes, 50% maybe, 13% no) were much more likely to want to participate in the Metaverse than suburban (20% yes, 60% maybe, 20% no) or rural parents (17% yes, 62% maybe, 21% no).

Catholic males (33% yes, 46% maybe, 21% no) were also more likely than Catholic females (14% yes, 53% maybe, 33% no), Protestant males (21% yes, 49% maybe, 30% no), and Protestant females (15% yes, 47% maybe, 38% no) to want to experience the Metaverse.

The Metaverse offers endless possibilities for those who want to defy reality. It also presents a whole new slew of ethical, moral, and legal questions. What will be deemed too disturbing or how will people police this new frontier to protect others? These are some of the moral and ethical dilemmas we face if we further develop this technology.

Younger, urban and minority respondents were the most likely to want to experience what the Metaverse had to offer. Do they crave escapism more or are they more with the current times and fads? We would need to further investigate that but one thing is for sure, once we open that door to this new reality where people can do things they cannot in real life, there is no turning back, and that door cannot be so easily closed.

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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
US Likely Voters
5/23/22 - 5/24/22

Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 1,100 likely voters in the US.

Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.

Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion. The party breakdown for this survey is as follows: 38% Democrat, 38% Republican and 24% Independent/unaffiliated.

Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 1,100 is +/- 3.0 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.

Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.

Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.

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About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.

The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.