Facebook officially changes company name to Meta
Facebook Inc said, Thursday, it would rebrand as Meta, a name change that comes as the company battles criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, its algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its platforms.
The company said the change would bring together its different apps and technologies under one new brand.
The company also explained that the name change is to enable expansion beyond social media.
The name change was announced during Facebook’s ugmented and virtual reality conference.
“We are at the beginning of the next chapter for the internet, and it’s the next chapter for our company too,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a “ Founder’s Letter.
“The next platform will be even more immersive — an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse, and it will touch every product we build,” Zuckerberg added.
Meta’s goals are both innovative and far-reaching.
“Our hope is that within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The name change from Facebook to Meta will also apply to its stock ticker acronym, which will switch from FB to MVRS on December 1, the company said in the announcement.
The switch to Meta comes amid a growing number of controversies regarding Facebook.
Most recently, thousands of pages of leaked Facebook documents revealed details regarding regulations and internal changes.
Facebook-owned Instagram also faced controversy when it was revealed that company research regarding children on the platform showed a negative impact on their mental health.
Facebook’s platform also has been criticized over growing concerns regarding censorship of COVID-19 information as well as conservative content.
