Facebook rebrands as Meta to shift focus to the ‘Metaverse’
FACEBOOK CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Oct. 28 that Facebook is changing its name.
What was formerly known as Facebook Inc. is now called Meta Platforms Inc. — the parent company behind the namesake app, as well as Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the virtual reality company Oculus.
The move is a nod to the metaverse, an immersive next-generation version of the internet that relies heavily on virtual reality technology. Instead of browsing or sending messages online, you could feel like youโre physically there, interacting with virtual versions of real people, places, and stores.
Zuckerberg announced the name change during Facebookโs annual Connect conference which spotlighted the companyโs efforts in augmented and virtual reality.
The rebranding to Meta reflects the companyโs heightened focus on virtual reality products and servicesโ with Zuckerberg unveiling the new identity after an hour-plusโlong presentation highlighting its efforts to build out a VR-enabled โmetaverse.โ
The Facebook name, he said, โjust doesnโt encompass everything we do.โ
โRight now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it canโt possibly represent everything that weโre doing today, let alone in the future,โ Zuckerberg said. โOver time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company. I want to anchor our work and our identity on what weโre building towards.โ
The rebranding also comes after negative publicity on the massive leak of internal documents and other public relations disasters in recent years, which had led to much speculation that the company would seek to rebrand its identity.
Read more: https://about.facebook.com/meta/
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