Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta. This is part of a wider rebranding of Facebook.
The company has said that it will expand its reach in virtual reality beyond social media. The name change will not happen across different platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
This change is for the parent company that owns them all. That is, Meta is the parent company and Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram are part of them.
Facebook has taken this step after a series of negative reports surfaced after leaking documents from one of its former employees. Former Facebook employee Frances Hogan alleged that the social media company was working for profit by putting security at risk.
In the year 2015, Google also took a similar step. He also changed the name of the parent company to Alphabet. However, this name did not come into use.
Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the new name is part of the Metaverse plan. Metaverse refers to an online world where people can virtually play games, work and communicate. It is also being called VR (Virtual Reality) Headsets.
Zuckerberg said that the current brand is insufficient for what we are doing now. He said there was a need for a branding that would be able to represent all of our work. Our eyes are on the future.
Zuckerberg said in a virtual conference, “I hope that in the times to come, we will be seen as a metaverse company. We want our work and our identity to be exactly what we want to do. We want to see our business in two parts. One is our work for family apps and the other for future platforms.
Zuckerberg said, “The time has come to make whatever we are doing, under a new brand, to know who we are and what we are going to do.”
The company also unveiled a new mark or logo at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Now the thumbs-up ‘Like’ logo has been replaced with a blue infinity shape.
Zuckerberg said the new name reflects its time. He said that users will not be required to use Facebook to use other services of the company. The word meta comes from Greek and means beyond.
- What is Metaverse?
The Metaverse sounds like virtual reality but some believe it could be the future of the Internet. Instead of having a computer, people can access the virtual world in all kinds of digital environments through a headset in the Metaverse.
It is expected that everything from work, play, concerts to contact with friends and families is possible in the virtual world. Facebook has said that it intends to enter the stock market under the new stock ticker MVRS from December 1.
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leaked documents
The reputation of the company has been badly affected in the recent past. Today, the Washington Post has reported that during the pandemic, Facebook withheld important information about vaccine misinformation.
This is the most recent report on documents leaked by a former Facebook employee. Apart from this, there were also reports that Facebook has shelved the research which said that Instagram is harming the mental health of teenagers.
Apart from this, it is also alleged that the post spreading hate outside America was not removed.
On these reports, Zuckerberg has said that some documents were leaked on his own accord so that the company could be defamed.
- Analysis by James Whitten, the BBC’s technology correspondent in North America
Zuckerberg has said that he chose the name Meta because it means beyond in Greek.
It also hints at the metaverse that Zuckerberg wants to build. But there is doubt about whether this Facebook effort will be successful.
The timing that Zuckerberg has chosen to do so seems to suggest an attempt at rebranding.
There are all kinds of negative reports coming in about the company right now and Zarberg wants to divert attention from it. Critics say Facebook changed the name Meta because its brand image was tarnished.
Secondly, the metaverse doesn’t exist yet. Zuckerberg is calling it a long-term plan. So your new name has no direct relation to your product and it is a bit strange. Almost all of Facebook’s revenue comes from ads for Facebook and Instagram.
The third thing, which we all know is that the other big tech company has failed in the rebranding. Nobody knows Google from the alphabet even though it was rebranded in 2015.
It’s clear that running Instagram and Facebook is no longer something to be excited about for Zuckerberg. He wants to create a new world of online, which we also know from virtual reality.
The way Zuckerberg is running his social media company is constantly being criticized. With this change, Zuckerberg can focus on other things in the company. However, we have to see whether people go along with this change of Zuckerberg.
