The (Un)sustainability of the Metaverse: A topic modeling analysis of social, economic, and environmental impacts

Abstract

This article investigates the multifaceted interplay between sustainability and the Metaverse within the wider academic literature. Drawing on a corpus of 236 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from a leading scientific database, we employ an unsupervised topic modeling technique to identify the latent thematic architecture of current research. Our analysis reveals nine distinct yet overlapping clusters, encompassing domains such as technological adoption, digital transformation, ethics and governance, privacy, and cultural immersion. Across these thematic areas, sustainability often emerges as a secondary or derivative concern, frequently subordinated to questions of functionality, adoption, or user experience, rather than being treated as a structural or systemic imperative. To address this conceptual fragmentation, we introduce an integrated theoretical framework that synthesizes the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions, the relational-material lens of Digital Ecologies, and the normative triad of the Technology–Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability Theory (T-EESST). This framework is further enriched by a transversal engagement with the temporal dynamics of time compression, a phenomenon that remains largely absent in the literature despite its far-reaching implications for organizational viability, psychological well-being, and socio-economic equity. Our findings suggest that the Metaverse must be reconceptualized not merely as a technological platform or experiential interface, but as a complex, socio-technical regime embedded within evolving temporal, institutional, and ecological structures. We contend that a sustainable Metaverse requires more than technical optimization or ethical design; it demands interdisciplinary inquiry capable of integrating spatial, social, and temporal dimensions of digital life. The study concludes by outlining a future research agenda aimed at bridging current epistemic silos and promoting the emergence of a truly systemic understanding of the (un)sustainability of the Metaverse.