The metaverse has the potential to extend the physical world using augmented and virtual reality technologies allowing users to seamlessly interact within real and simulated environments using avatars and holograms. Virtual environments and immersive games (such as, Second Life, Fortnite, Roblox and VRChat) have been described as antecedents of the metaverse and offer some insight to the potential socio-economic impact of a fully functional persistent cross platform metaverse. Separating the hype and “meta…” rebranding from current reality is difficult, as “big tech” paints a picture of the transformative nature of the metaverse and how it will positively impact people in their work, leisure, and social interaction. The potential impact on the way we conduct business, interact with brands and others, and develop shared experiences is likely to be transformational as the distinct lines between physical and digital are likely to be somewhat blurred from current perceptions. However, although the technology and infrastructure does not yet exist to allow the development of new immersive virtual worlds at scale - one that our avatars could transcend across platforms, researchers are increasingly examining the transformative impact of the metaverse. Impacted sectors include marketing, education, healthcare as well as societal effects relating to social interaction factors from widespread adoption, and issues relating to trust, privacy, bias, disinformation, application of law as well as psychological aspects linked to addiction and impact on vulnerable people. This study examines these topics in detail by combining the informed narrative and multi-perspective approach from experts with varied disciplinary backgrounds on many aspects of the metaverse and its transformational impact. The paper concludes by proposing a future research agenda that is valuable for researchers, professionals and policy makers alike.

Ephemerality should be a significant concept for the information systems (IS) discipline but has not been developed as such. On the one hand, ephemerality is considered a characteristic of the IS “core” and focus, of data, information, and knowledge, and of digital material and the experience of digital technologies. On the other, IS reference to ephemerality is relatively scarce, and use of the term tends to implicitly rely upon the dictionary definition only. As a result, ephemerality is not well defined in the IS literature. Our aim in this study is to contribute to broader and deeper IS understanding of ephemerality. This is important because systems of people and technology are reformulating the meaning of ephemeral. Reformulating our understanding of ephemeral can improve our understanding of diverse, fast-paced, and quickly changing contexts for transfer and diffusion of digital technology. While our ultimate focus is ephemeral in digitalised contexts, our overarching focus is ephemerality as a standalone concept. We conduct an interdisciplinary review of the temporal and material qualities of the ephemeral in disciplines including sociology, philosophy, organisation studies, performance studies, new media studies, and IS. Out of this review, we propose a definition for ephemeral and develop a conceptual framework of ephemeral dimensions and characteristics, in which ephemerality is not only characterized by short-lived, unstable duration, but also by repetition, recombination, and durability. We conclude by briefly situating the framework in an IS context.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated business use of digital technology with ephemeral functionality. However, ephemerality as a concept is not well defined in the information systems (IS) literature, making application and operationalization challenging. We conduct an interdisciplinary review of the temporal and material qualities of the ephemeral. We then conduct a standalone review of ephemerality in IS. Based upon our reviews, we propose a definition for ephemeral and develop a framework of ephemeral characteristics. We outline incongruence between this framework and IS conceptualization of ephemerality.

History shows that pandemics can catalyse enormous change, fundamentally transforming the way people make sense of the world. Technologies can also be catalysts of change. While digital technologies are playing a vital role in tackling the covid-19 pandemic, the pandemic also presents a significant opportunity for digital technologies. Some experts believe the pandemic may permanently normalise the comprehensive societal use of digital technologies. This article casts a critical eye over the potential implications of this opportunity in the context of information systems (IS) research and development. We introduce and outline selected principles of Zygmunt Bauman's theory of liquid modernity. We then apply the liquid-modern principles to illustrative examples drawn from the covid-19 literature by focussing on three areas of established information systems interest: control, big data and information privacy. We show that traditional conceptualisations of scientific and societal order and control need to be reassessed; that big data alone cannot order clear and safe paths out of the current crisis and that information privacy regulations are irrelevant when undermined or circumvented by public and private actors. We conclude by making four recommendations for IS pandemic researchers and five practical recommendations in the context of the pandemic.