These 5 Excellent Books Helped Inspire My Writing of <em>Making a Metaverse That Matters</em>

Here's five of the best books for understanding virtual worlds and internet culture as recommended by, well, me. Featured on Shepherd, an author-driven book recommendation site, the editors asked me to write about the books that informed my own book, Making a Metaverse That Matters.

Those include the face-punchingly obvious influences, like Snow Crash:

The OG Metaverse novel is still as smart, hilarious, rollicking, and inspirational as it was 30 years ago. I’m amazed at how many technologists talking about the concept have not read it and realized how influential and prophetic it actually is, envisioning scenes of virtual life that have since become commonplace for millions of Internet denizens…

And the less obvious guides, like Taylor Lorenz's Extremely Online:

From a certain angle, metaverse platforms are the quirkiest example of the social media revolution, where grassroots creators express themselves online to gain fans, influence, and (on the very high end) a full-time income. Deeply and thoughtfully reported by someone who started her own journalist career in social media, Taylor’s book is a must-read on the rise of the social media revolution…

Read it all here, and consider getting these books for the holidays!