As part of a significant rebranding, Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta.
As it expands its influence beyond social media into areas such as virtual reality, the firm claims it will better “encompass” what it does.
The shift solely affects the parent business, not the individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp.
Following a succession of unfavorable headlines about Facebook based on documents obtained by an ex-employee, the company has taken this step.
Frances Haugen has charged the firm of prioritizing “profits over safety.”
Google reorganized its corporation in 2015, renaming its parent company Alphabet, but the name has yet to catch on.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, revealed the new name alongside ambitions to create a “metaverse,” an online world where people may game, work, and chat in a virtual environment, frequently utilizing virtual reality goggles.
He said the existing brand could not “possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future”, and needed to change.
“Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” he told a virtual conference.
“We’re now looking at and reporting on our business as two different segments, one for our family of apps, and one for our work on future platforms.
“And as part of this, it is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do, to reflect who we are and what we hope to build.”