Zuckerberg Announced to Change Facebook Name to Meta
Facebook plans to go all-in on the Metaverse, a virtual reality space where people can interact with each other in a computer-generated environment
On Thursday, the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, announced that Facebook, the social media platform, is changing its name to Meta to reflect its mounting focus on the Metaverse. At the annual Connect conference of Facebook, Zuckerberg said from now on, and the company plans to change it as Metaverse, not Facebook first. The Facebook brand is deeply associated with one product, due to which it is not possible to represent everything that the company is doing today, let alone the future.
Announcing @Meta — the Facebook company’s new name. Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where we’ll play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection. pic.twitter.com/ywSJPLsCoD
The company announced not to change its corporate structure, though its vision is growing to virtual spaces where individuals interact through digital avatars. Moreover, it will trade under MVRS. Earlier this week, the company said that Facebook and its apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger would house in a separate department from Facebook Reality Labs, which makes the enlarged and virtual reality products of the company.
Redacted Versions of Leaked Facebook Documents
The rebranding of one of the giants and best-known companies of the world comes as Facebook is involved in public relations crisis because of a cache of leaked documents. The former product manager of Facebook, Frances Haugen, provided the leaked documents to Congress. A group of seventeen United States news organizations, including CNN, obtained the documents redacted versions that provide a rare glimpse inside the firm and its decisions that intend to prioritize profits over the well-being of people.
This week, Zuckerberg said that news coverage of those leaked documents painted a false picture of Facebook. Research director and vice president of Forrester, Mike Proulx, noted that the name change wouldn’t change issues inside the social media firm. He added that if Meta does not address its issues beyond an artificial and defensive altitude, those same issues will occupy the Metaverse.
Mark Zuckerberg Announced to Change Facebook Name to Meta Source: Web
Zuckerberg told The Verge that the negative news bashing the social media giant had nothing to bear on this. Furthermore, he added that the company went from desktop to web to phones, from simple text to photos to videos, but this is not the end of the line.
The subsequent medium and platform will be even more alive and immersive internet where people across the world are in the experience, not just looking at it, which is the Metaverse. Meta word comes from Greek word, and it means beyond. Zuckerberg said he symbolizes it as there is always the next chapter to the story, and there is always more to build.
Facebook to Meta, more than a Name
Colin Sebastian, the Baird Equity Research analyst, said that the corporate name changes indicate a significant shift for Facebook. It means the Metaverse is not a side project. Instead, the firm is all in developing the next computing platform, such as the successor to the mobile internet. However, this innovative vision is not quite Steve Jobs and the iPhone in 2007. Zuckerberg himself evaluates that it will take five to ten years for these revolutionary features to become mainstream.
Sebastian said that Zuckerberg presented a striving idea for the Metaverse – with spaces and photorealistic avatars, voice interactions and holograms, and EMG input that generates immersive virtual versions of socializing, traveling, work, and play, and shopping, etc. Facebook is not the first corporate tech company to change its name, such as Google created a new openly traded parent company in 2015 and called Alphabet to house its disparate businesses.
The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. It’s a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to everyone. You’ll be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what’s possible today. pic.twitter.com/655yFRm8yZ
