The future of social media and open world games will be one and the same.

The term “open world” refers to nonlinear gameplay that removes artificial barriers from the traditional gaming experience. Players are free to decide their own progression and story path. Some of the most popular open world games include: The Legend of Zelda, Grand Theft Auto, Minecraft, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games or known as (MMORPGs) are usually real time open world games that have many people sharing the same instance of the world. Some of the most popular MMORPGs include: World of Warcraft, Runescape, Guild war, MapleStory.Players in MMORPGs form their own social structures, economies and cultures similar to how the real world operates.

The first generation of social network websites began in the mid 1990s (theglobe, geocities, tripod). These sites focused on bringing people together to interact with each other in chatrooms and share ideas via personal web pages. The next generation of social network sites came in the lates 1990s and early 2000s. There are two camps of thought prevailed in this generation:

Eventually, Facebook perfected the first camp of thought by proving that people cared more about their current realities than a potential online fantastical persona. Facebook is doubling down on this thesis by putting a lot of resources into building Oculus and the Facebook Horizon platform (a virtual reality social network).

Escapism is the cornerstone of all media. We watch movies to see the lives of someone else. We read novels to go through someone else’s story. We play video games to be someone else.

The unexecuted second camp of thought hinges on the concept of escapism. We want to build a fantasy persona online to be someone else. Current technology does not allow us to truly exemplify social network escapism.  Words, videos and images only express so much. Virtual reality provides a glimpse of the potential of immersive escapism.

MMORPGs rely on the  same escapism concept. People don’t play World of Warcraft for hundreds of hours because they like killing monsters. They play it for the community. World of Warcraft players build their own clans, communities, and cultures. They feel a sense of belonging in this game. Players are free to choose who they want to be without the limitations of the real world. If anything, MMORPGs encapsulate social network escapism much better than MySpace or Yahoo 360 ever did.

What social networks will look like in 2077

Imagine a world where you could wear a pair of VR glasses and live in a different world with a different identity. There are 2 billion people living in this world with you. You choose who you want to be and how you want to live your life. You build real relationships and real experiences. The world is governed by real world social structures and has real politics. There are no physical limits in this world. The world could be set in the Medieval times or in Hogwarts. Nothing is impossible as long as the people agree to it. No one entity owns this world. No government dictates it. No corporations control it. This world improves upon the imperfection of the real world. The social network you build in this world is no less than the one in your current world, because both experiences are real. Why limit yourself to Facebook Horizon, a social network built to duplicate the real world, when you can live in a world that is limitless? Open world games will become the ultimate social network - and everyone will become a gamer, whether they are aware of it or not.