Facebook has officially rebranded and is now called "Meta." The social media company said that the new name would better represent what it does as it plans to broaden its reach.
Facebook has been focusing on other areas like virtual reality or VR.
Facebook Rebrands as Meta
Facebook's change does not apply to its other platforms like the Facebook site, Instagram, and Whatsapp. The change only applies to its parent company that owns the said platforms.
The change came as Facebook was hit by several negative stories. The stories are based on whistleblowers and leaked documents, according to BBC.
One of the ex-employees, Frances Haugen, has accused Facebook of putting profits over the safety of its users.
In 2015, Google restructured its company and changed the name of its parent company to Alphabet.
Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name of the social media company together with its plans to create a metaverse, which is an online world where people can work, communicate, and play games in a virtual environment via VR headsets.
Zuckerberg said that the existing brand could not represent everything that they are doing currently, let alone in the future, and they needed to change.
Zuckerberg said during a virtual conference that over time, he hopes that they are seen as a metaverse company and that he wants to anchor their work and their identity on what they are building towards.
The Facebook CEO added that they are now looking at and reporting on their business as two different segments. The first one is for their series of apps, and the second one is for their work on future platforms.
As part of the company's change, Facebook adopted a new brand that will showcase everything that they do. It also gives them a chance to reflect on who they are and what they want to represent and create.
The company also revealed a new logo at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California. The company changed its "Like" logo with a blue infinity shape.
Zuckerberg said that in the near future, the users would no longer have to use Facebook to access their other platforms.
To an outsider, the metaverse idea may be similar to VR, but some believe that it could be the future of the internet.
Instead of being in front of a computer, users in a metaverse will need a VR headset to enter a virtual world that connects all digital environments.
It is hoped that the virtual world could be used for practically anything from play, concerts, work to socializing with others. Facebook stated that it intends to start trading its shares under MVRS from Dec. 1, according to Engadget.
Leaked Documents
The company has had numerous hits to its reputation these past few months. The Washington Post reported on Oct. 28 that Facebook withheld important information about vaccine misinformation during the peak of the pandemic.
The report was the latest in the series of stories based on documents leaked by Haugen to the US Congress and the media.
Among other things, the reports stated that Facebook minimized its research that showed Instagram harmed the mental health of teenagers and was not able to effectively remove hate speech from its platforms outside the United States.
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Written by Sophie Webster
