After months of speculation and criticism from regulators and lawmakers, the largest social media company in the world has decided to rebrand itself. Facebook has got a new name meta as the company goes for a rebranding exercise.
The decision for a Facebook new name is an indication and confirmation from the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook Inc is looking at opportunities beyond being just a social media company.
Facebook’s new name announcement came during a Facebook Connect Event in which the CEO hoped with the name change Facebook will be seen as a Metaverse company in the future.
The Facebook brand is linked so tightly to one brand that it does not represent the many other things that the company does. Add to the growing criticisms regarding its marketing power, policy abuses, and algorithmic decisions have led to the company rebranding itself. The new entity will encompass every activity from WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook to the quest for AR and VR platforms.
Under the new brand, users of other products including WhatsApp and Instagram will not have to use Facebook as a condition to use these products.
Facebook New Name Meaning
The new name Meta is synonymous with a new North star that brings metaverse to life. The push for building virtual space for businesses and consumers reflects the company’s vision for the future where the 3D virtual worlds will become augmented reality.
The name Facebook did not reflect its DNA that connected people using technology. The way smartphones replaced Desktops, in future metaverse will be the new way in which people will interact with each other and computers. The company apart from owning the social media networks, also has Messenger, Horizon VR platform, and Quest VR headset in its stable.
The Corporate Structure of Meta
The corporate structure does not change. Facebook along with Instagram, WhatsApp, and messenger will continue to remain the same. The hardware division Facebook Reality Labs will only become a separate entity. This division is responsible for the AR and VR operations and will now be known as Realty labs.
The Facebook New Name and Logo
The new name of Facebook will be Meta and the logo has changed. The company headquarters at Menlo Park, California has a new logo which was unveiled recently and has the blue infinity shape replacing its earlier logo which was a thumbs up “like”. The company will start trading in the stock market under the new stock sticker “MVRS” from December 1.
Future Plans
The focus is on Metaverse and the company has created a product team and plans to hire 10,000 employees over the next five years to work on the new efforts.
Conclusion
Metaverse is a new concept, which is being promoted by Mark Zuckerberg who sees users of the platform living, working, and playing in an interconnected virtual world. The entire exercise of Facebook’s new name is not about rebranding its image which came under fire recently for spreading misinformation among other things but building a new digital frontier. This is similar to what Facebook did two decades ago when it changed the way people interacted using the blue and white F platform.
