Five things to know about Facebook-Meta rebrand

Facebook, on Thursday, announced that it had changed its corporate name to ‘Meta’.

The rebrand came as the social media giant continued to work towards building its futuristic “metaverse”.

The social media giant had touted the development as a virtual-reality space in which users interact with a computer-generated environment.

Here are four things to know about Facebook’s recent rebrand.

SCOPE

Meta’s rebrand doesn’t exactly disrupt the usage of individual services under its company like Facebook itself, Instagram, and Whatsapp.

In the words of Mark Zuckerberg, its founder, “from now on, we will be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.”

He said, over time, users won’t need a Facebook account to access Meta’s other services.

META-VERSE

Ahead of its rebrand, Facebook had invested heavily in virtual/augmented reality.

It had also developed hardware like its Oculus VR headsets, working on AR glasses and wristband technologies, and buying a bevy of VR gaming studios, including BigBox VR.

Among its products, Meta will include Zuckerberg apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, and the VR startup Oculus. Of course, Facebook will be included.

STOCK

Meta plans to begin trading on December 1 under the new stock ticker MVRS.

PROSPECTS

On Meta and its work towards creating a VR space, Zuckerberg said users will be able to connect, work, learn, play, shop, and create in a manner distinct from how people think about computers presently.

“We made a film that explores how you might use the metaverse one day,” Zuckerberg further said.

“In the future, you will be able to teleport instantly as a hologram to be at the office without a commute, at a concert with friends, or in your parents’ living room to catch up.

“This will open up more opportunities no matter where you live. You’ll be able to spend more time on what matters to you, cut downtime in traffic, and reduce your carbon footprint.”

NAME

The word Meta is of Greek origin, meaning “beyond”.

For Mark Zuckerberg, it symbolizes the journey ahead for the company, the next chapter for the company, and what is still to be built.

In Zuckerberg’s words: “Think about how many physical things you have today that could just be holograms in the future.

“Your TV, your perfect work setup with multiple monitors, your board games, and more — instead of physical things assembled in factories, they’ll be holograms designed by creators around the world.

“Our role in this journey is to accelerate the development of the fundamental techs, social platforms, and creative tools to bring the metaverse to life, and to weave these technologies through our social media apps.”