CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has announced at Facebook Connect 2021 that the company would change its name to Meta to reflect growth opportunities beyond its app in online digital realms known as the metaverse.
The social giant will be calling itself Meta from Thursday as the company marches towards the metaverse. At Meta, they will be focusing on the new age of connecting people using the company’s tools. For example, Facebook is now a product of Meta, just like WhatsApp, Instagram, and others previously under the Facebook name.
“Over time I hope our company will be seen as a metaverse company,” says Mark Zuckerberg.
He also added that,
“We’ve gone from desktop to web to phones, from text to photos to video, but this isn’t the end of the line. We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet.”
The company also announced that it would be giving up FB format, and the shares will be slated under the new stock symbol MVRS starting December 1.
Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.
“The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. It’s a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to everyone. You’ll be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what’s possible today.”
said Mark Zuckerberg
Two years ago, Facebook rebranded its logo, separating itself from the Facebook app, the social platform, and adding “from Facebook” to all its group of acquired apps. The new identity change was supposed to make it easy for people to recognize Facebook as not just a social media company but a company that builds social technology and is also involved in building VR and AR products.
Apple and Google have also changed their names over the years. Back in 2007, the computer and smartphone giant shortened its name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc to reflect a variety of products offered by the company. However, Mark Zuckerberg’s name change strategy is similar to Google’s 2015 move. The search giant restructured in 2015, becoming a product of Alphabet. Inc, led by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who co-founded Google. As a result, Sundar Pichai took control of Google as the new CEO. However, in the case of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg still holds the chair as his Facebook profile shows Founder and CEO of Meta.
The new home for the company will be meta.com. You can learn more about Meta design stories here.
