The US parent company of the world’s largest social network has changed its name from Facebook, Inc. to Meta, Inc. The change is not expected to alter the names of online services and apps such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, British broadcaster BBC reports.
On Thursday, October 28, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name as he unveiled plans to build a «metaverse» – an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using virtual reality headsets.
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«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,» the 37-year-old explained in a virtual press 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.»
The change of the name and logo does not affect to its individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, but only the parent company that owns them. The step also comes at a time of a series of negative news about Facebook, based on documents leaked by an ex-employee in the US, when Frances Haugen has accused the company of focusing on profits instead of user safety, BBC reports.
Facebook parent company rebranded to new name
