Preface xiiiIntroduction: Five Stories about Five Core Metaverse Concepts xixPart I Conception 1Chapter 1 Crash Course?A Simple History of a Complex Idea 3 Creating the Metaverse Immediately after Snow Crash 7 Reclaiming the Metaverse’s Definition Taken from Its Source 11Chapter 2 Second Life and the Mystery of the First Metaverse Platform 23Chapter 3 How Facebook Became Meta (But Lost the Metaverse on the Way) 77Part II Realization 101Chapter 4 Kid Stuff: Minecraft, and the Rise of Roblox 103Chapter 5 Battle Royale for the Fortnite Metaverse 127Chapter 6 Neal Stephenson Enters the Metaverse? Lamina1, Blockchain, and the Utopia of Ownership 141Chapter 7 VRChat and Finding Furry Anime Utopia 161Part III Promises and Perils 185Chapter 8 VR, Interoperability, Web3, and Other Metaverse Myths 187Chapter 9 Sex, Abuse, and the Eternal Content Moderation Challenge 205Chapter 10 Metaverse Real-World Use Cases?Separating Substance from Hype 225Chapter 11 Overcoming the Metaverse Age Cliff and the Immersion Funnel 249Part IV A Metaverse Worth Fighting For 263Chapter 12 Future Paths 265Chapter 13 Future Pitfalls?Manipulation, Takedowns, and the Experience Machine 279Chapter 14 Metaverse Lessons for the Next 30 Years 295Glossary 319Appendix A: Rules for Avatar Radicals and Reformers 323Appendix B: Advice for Metaverse Reporters 329Acknowledgments 331About the Author 333Index 335