As predicted by the media and analyst last week, Facebook has changed its name for the first time since launch. As announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s Connect event last night, Facebook will not be called Meta. That’s right, not Metaverse, but Meta. Also Read - Samsung Galaxy M52 5G to soon launch in Brazil; appears on official website
At the event, Zuckerberg said, “we are a company that builds technology to connect.” “Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy,” he added. Also Read - Sony sold 13.4 million PlayStation 5 consoles to date: Details here
For clarity, the name change has been for the parent company and not any of the products or services. This suggests that the name of Facebook app, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram will remain as it is. Also Read - Top 5 interesting features of the new Redmi Note 11 series: All you need to know
Announcing @Meta — the Facebook company’s new name. Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where we’ll play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection. pic.twitter.com/ywSJPLsCoD
— Meta (@Meta) October 28, 2021
Similarly, in 2015 Google renamed its parent company to Alphabet.
Why the name change?
CEO Zuckerberg said that the name Facebook doesn’t completely encompass everything that the company does now and is still closely linked to one product. He said, “over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company.”
The thought behind the name change comes from Facebook’s focus shift to Metaverse. Zuckerberg wants its company to be known as a Metaverse and not just as a social media company anymore.
In an interview with the Verge, Zuckerberg had said in July that Facebook would “effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company.”
At the Connect event, Zuckerberg further clarified that the name change will not transition the company’s corporate structure. But there will be a change in how the company reports financial results.
He explained that “starting with our results for the fourth quarter of 2021, we plan to report on two operating segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs.”
“We also intend to start trading under the new stock ticker we have reserved, MVRS, on December 1. Today’s announcement does not affect how we use or share data,” Zuckerberg added.
