Can Social Media survive Elon Musk? What does the future hold for VR? Vertical Hold Ep 404

As Elon Musk continues to stagger from crisis to disaster over his Twitter ownership and Meta fires thousands of staff members, are we seeing the decline of social media as a force, or can open platforms like Mastodon fill the gap? And with new consumer VR gear on the way, what’s in the future for the VR space?
Special Guest Byteside’s Seamus Byrne!

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We don’t usually cover the same topic over two consecutive weeks, but the pace of Elon Musk’s seeming destruction of Twitter is a story we just can’t ignore. It’s been rapid, it’s been weird, it’s been sometimes dangerous and it’s a story we can’t ignore.

Couple that with mass firings at Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and it’s not looking good for the social media scene. Is Mastodon the answer?

Will there be a new social media platform along soon that makes Twitter look like MySpace and Facebook look like usenet?

Speaking of Meta, it’s still busy pouring billions into VR, taking on the likes of Sony, Microsoft, HTC, Google and Apple pitching virtual and augmented reality experiences to businesses and consumers alike. But we’ve heard these tales for decades now.

Why hasn’t VR arrived yet, and what needs to happen to make it happen?

Joining us in the virtual Vertical Hold studios this week to talk VR, social media and for some reason Santa is Byteside’s Seamus Byrne!