A4 Article in conference proceedings
The Perception of Smart Contracts for Governance of the Metaverse (2022)
Oppenländer, J. (2022). The Perception of Smart Contracts for Governance of the Metaverse. In Academic Mindtrek 2022 : Proceedings of the 25th International Academic Mindtrek Conference (pp. 1-8). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3569219.3569300
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Oppenländer, Jonas
Parent publication: Academic Mindtrek 2022 : Proceedings of the 25th International Academic Mindtrek Conference
Place and date of conference: Tampere, Finland, 16.-18.11.2022
eISBN: 978-1-4503-9955-5
Publication year: 2022
Publication date: 16/11/2022
Pages range: 1-8
Publisher: ACM
Place of Publication: New York
Publication country: United States
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3569219.3569300
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel
Abstract
Smart contracts are a method for implementing direct democracy in virtual worlds. However, it is not clear whether voting preferences in the virtual world will mirror real-world voting preferences. We present a within-subject study in which participants were asked to allocate voting power in two scenarios. The first scenario probed participants’ opinion about the divisibility of voting rights. The second scenario presented participants with the case of unequal allocation of voting power in a virtual world, enforced by smart contracts. In both scenarios, participants allocated voting power and rated the fairness of their decision. Our study finds that participants’ voting preferences in the virtual world scenario did not mirror their real-world preferences and beliefs. Voting systems in the metaverse need to be carefully designed to align with human values and ethics.
Keywords: virtual world; participation; decision making; direct democracy; electoral systems; agreements
Free keywords: metaverse; smart contracts; digital democracy; democratic DAO; participatory decision-making; virtual worlds software; empirical studies; collaborative and social computing systems and tools
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2022
JUFO rating: 1