[W Forum] Politics in the Metaverse Era

The 20th presidential election held on the 9th ended with Yoon Seok-yeol of the People Power Party winning by the smallest margin in history. The nail-biting close race, which left the winner unknown until dawn, kept many citizens glued to the live vote count broadcasts. Alongside this unprecedentedly tight contest, the election coverage utilized cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), and 3D to predict results and provide various engaging visuals, capturing viewers' attention.

In particular, the election coverage conducted in the metaverse (an extended virtual world) for the first time worldwide was intriguing. Broadcasters such as KBS, MBC, JTBC, and TV Chosun set up virtual studios on the platform 'ifland' and conducted real-time vote count broadcasts. Although the specific spaces and content varied by broadcaster, the metaverse broadcasts featured avatars of presidential candidates, hosts, and participants engaging together through interviews, debates, quizzes, sign language motions, and other diverse content to encourage communication and participation.

The use of the metaverse in this presidential election was not the first instance of its application in election coverage. Since last year, presidential primary candidates actively utilized the metaverse. Candidates such as Lee Nak-yeon, Park Yong-jin, Lee Kwang-jae, and Won Hee-ryong decorated maps on 'ZEPETO' and held campaign launch events to meet with the public. Then-candidate Ahn Cheol-soo held a Polyverse camp and a press conference on 'Gather Town.' Just before the main election, presidential candidates participated in a 'Youth Pledge' metaverse discussion hosted by MBN, answering questions from young voters.

Metaverse platforms, primarily led by gaming and social media formats, have expanded into various fields such as exhibitions, concerts, meetings, collaboration, and education, reflecting the increased demand for diverse non-face-to-face interactions due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. They are also being utilized in politics. Although there are still many limitations, the evolutionary direction of the metaverse is toward the 'Third Life.' If physical life in the real world is the 'First Life' and the fictional life in the virtual world is the 'Second Life,' then the 'Third Life' refers to a life where the boundaries between virtual and reality are blurred and organically connected, interacting with each other. In other words, the metaverse is understood not as a virtual world separated from reality and transcending it, but as a virtual world fused with reality that reflects real-world spaces, relationships, and activities, enables experiences impossible in reality, and where these experiences influence and continue into the real world.

Matthew Ball, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and CEO of Epillion Co., defined seven core elements of the metaverse. These are ▲persistence ▲real-time synchronization ▲no limit on simultaneous participants and a sense of 'presence' for all ▲effective economic systems across all sectors ▲scalable experiences ▲unprecedented levels of interoperability ▲and being filled with content and experiences.

The use of the metaverse in this presidential election is significant in terms of raising political interest among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), who relatively use legacy media less, and as an experiment in new election campaigning and vote count broadcasting. However, it appears to have a strong one-off event character and lacks a role as a communication platform. Considering the core elements above, a true metaverse is difficult to build in a short time but is expected to be actively utilized in the future as a space that creates new experiences to enhance political participation and efficacy through the fusion of reality and virtuality. Although not explicitly stated among the core elements, the foundation of the metaverse is communication, which aligns closely with the values of politics and should not be forgotten.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.