You are currently viewing Why did Facebook change its name to Meta and what is metaverse?

Why did Facebook change its name to Meta and what is metaverse?

Facebook has renamed itself Meta to own the metaverse. Let’s understand what is the meaning of this change, how this change is going to affect 3 billion people worldwide, and what exactly is metaverse.

What exactly happened?

First, you should NOTE that Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram will keep their actual name. Meta will be the name of the parent company that maintains these 3 platforms.

On 28th October, Facebook, the company that owns 3 major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp rebranded itself as Meta. In the company`s annual Connect conference, CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed attendees and said: “Right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future. Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and identity on what we’re building toward.”

facebook name change meta
Visitors pose in front of a newly unveiled logo for “Meta”, the new name for Facebook’s parent company, outside Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on October 28, 2021. – Facebook changed its parent company name to “Meta” on October 28 as the tech giant tries to move past being a scandal-plagued social network to its virtual reality vision for the future. (Photo by NOAH BERGER / AFP)

And what is a metaverse?

Metaverse is a concept shared online 3d virtual space that many companies are interested in creating as a future version of the internet. The term was coined in Neal Stephenson`s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash.

At an extreme, you can also imagine the concept of virtual space shown in the movie The Matrix. Ready Player One fiction movie directed by Steven Spielberg in 2018 is also a good example of where people use VR headsets and wired gloves to play and interact with other people in the world.

But why Facebook changed it`s name to Meta?

Facebook as a name is associated with social media. As a future plan, Meta doesn`t want to be looked like a social media company only. They may launch many more businesses. Looking forward to the metaverse and being a technology giant, Meta, with its new name can explore new industries or invest in new ideas.

Conclusion

Yes. This is true that Facebook has bigger issues like Privacy, bugs, and data integrity to solve. However, as a tech company and with a new name Meta can benefit the internet domain and may come up with more innovative products. this change is in no way going to affect the existing end users of all 3 platforms owned by Meta.