On October 28, 2021, Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a rebranding initiative and revealed the corporate name would be changing to “Meta”. Stock for the company itself will remain on the ticker as FB until early 2022 and will then be changed to MVRS. This shift is to emphasize the company’s focus on the “metaverse”, which is claimed by Zuckerberg to be the future of technology. This metaverse will not only include the already existing social media and gaming aspects, but also immersive virtual reality options, such as opportunities for co-workers to connect and collaborate. In his official keynote announcement, Zuckerberg stated he will not be solely focusing on what products are about to be released, but also created a vision of what this future metaverse will look like.
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp will still exist with their respective names; however, they will be under the umbrella of Meta. This new branding has already appeared as an additional logo for those platforms and its apps. Otherwise, the social media platforms under the Meta umbrella have remained relatively the same. Nevertheless, new sources such as CNN have brought into question the purpose of Facebook’s new name. Prior to this rebranding, Facebook’s founder had been facing legal battles, including leaked documents and a whistleblowing scandal.
Oculus, Facebook’s virtual reality headset, seems to be the main focus of Meta’s changes. Following Zuckerberg’s keynote, he invited people into this metaverse and showed off his avatar and how he and the company envision the future of augmented and virtual reality. This key component in the metaverse is what will allow users to experience those immersive virtual workspaces, attend a virtual concert, and as claimed by the new release of New Horizon Worlds, a Facebook gaming app designed for Oculus, users will be able to travel and connect all over the world from the comfort of their own home.
While there is much debate on the drive behind this new corporate name, Meta’s success with this new direction for is still yet to be seen, but it is an area of great interest for the gaming community, especially with the ongoing debate surrounding the use of Non-Fungible Token, collector items that are available solely as virtual items. With the lines blurring between reality and virtual reality, Meta is stepping into new and unique territory for any company.
