Lex Fridman Mark Zuckerberg Metaverse Interview

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Overview

Lex Fridman Mark Zuckerberg Metaverse Interview is a viral video shared by tech influencer and podcaster Lex Fridman in which he interviews Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a hyperrealistic version of the Metaverse (compared to the cartoonish Horizon Worlds avatars). The interview was posted to YouTube, X / Twitter and various podcast platforms simultaneously in late September 2023, with people reacting to the event with memes and discussions about Meta's new phase on social media over the following days.

Background

On September 28th, 2023, Lex Fridman posted a video to YouTube^[1] titled "Mark Zuckerberg: First Interview in the Metaverse | Lex Fridman Podcast #398." The podcast episode showed Fridman interviewing Mark Zuckerberg in a new, hyperrealistic version of the Metaverse.

The Metaverse, specifically Meta's platform Horizon Worlds, was previously mocked by internet users for its simplistic graphics and low usage numbers. Fridman's interview with Zuckerberg showed the two discussing the new Metaverse, the Oculus Quest 3 VR system, AI language models and other prominent tech topics. The interview gathered over 690,000 views on YouTube in a day (seen below).

The video was also posted to Fridman's profile on X,^[2] where it gathered over 38,000 likes and 7 million views in a day (seen below).

Online Reactions

On September 28th, 2023, X^[3] user @MedGold_ reposted a clip from the interview saying, "Not sure if you’re aware of how over it is," gathering over 1,400 likes in a day (seen below).

Various X users posted meme replies to Fridman's post as it spread on the platform on September 28th, as seen in a reply by X^[4] user @greg16676935420, which gathered over 2,000 likes in a day (seen below, left), and a reply by X^[5] user @andrewmccalip that gathered over 1,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

A September 29th, 2023, post by X user @WadahA^[6] referencing the You're Watching Disney Channel meme gathered over 1,600 likes in a day (seen below).