After much hype, Facebook has put an end to all the gossips and speculation by announcing the new name “Meta”. As explained, Facebook goes “Meta” to highlight the firm’s growing focus towards virtual reality and the “metaverse” thing.
Facebook Rebrands As “Meta”
The famous (and infamous) social media giant that has substantially evolved into a tech giant has announced a major change. At the Connect 2021, Facebook has announced rebranding the parent firm as “Meta” (and it’s not a prefix).
Elaborating more about it in a blog post, the rebrand highlights how the company plans to go “beyond 2D screens”. Describing the firm’s scope, the post states,
Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.
Certainly, “Meta” is all about the metaverse – a concept Facebook (now “Meta”) highlighted last month.
The “metaverse” is a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.
Consequently, the new name relates the firm to this concept taking all its products (including Facebook) in the loop. At present, the tech giant’s products include Facebook, Messenger (aka Facebook Messenger), WhatsApp, Instagram, Oculus, Workplace, Portal, and Novi.
So now, all these products belong to “Meta” – a “social technology company”.
For the rebranding, Facebook (sorry, “Meta”) has taken all the steps to depict the name change. That includes setting up a dedicated website “meta.com” (that currently redirects to https://about.facebook.com/meta) to establishing the Twitter account. (Though, interestingly, the official account for “Meta” seems to have been created back in 2007, whereas, another account for “Facebook”, seemingly created in 2010, has its tweets protected at the time of writing.)
Journey From “The Facebook” To “Facebook”
This rebrand isn’t the first move from “Meta”. The company began its journey as “TheFacebook” back in 2004 as a small chat platform for Harvard University students. Mark Zuckerberg, together with fellows, established this site while studying there.
The platform then quickly gained traction and extended up to other universities. Eventually, in August 2005, “Facebook” emerged after purchasing the “facebook.com” domain for $200,000.
According to Metaverse stats, Facebook continued to evolve from a simple “chit-chat” platform to a full-fledge “social media” giant. During this journey, Facebook also made numerous acquisitions – the most noteworthy being Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus.
However, it was a roller-coaster ride accompanied by numerous apologies from Zuckerberg and Facebook.
And now, it has become Meta Platforms, Inc. (the official name for the previous “Facebook Inc.”) – a California-based holding company.
Let’s see how this rebrand affects the working of its existing (and future) products.
What do you think about this new name? Do share your thoughts with us via comments.