Why is Facebook Planning to Change its Name?

Mark Zuckerberg, the internet entrepreneur and the CEO of Facebook plans to talk about the Facebook name change at the company’s annual Connect conference on 28 October 2021. 

Yes, Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name!

A couple of months back, Zuckerberg told The Verge that, over the next several years, “we will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company.” Evidently, the next significant step of the tech giant is to focus on building the metaverse and signal a shift from just social media.

What is Metaverse? 

A collection of shared online environments in which physical, augmented, and virtual reality connect is referred to as the metaverse. The metaverse is expected to turn disparate online worlds into a single, seamless entity where people can hang out with friends, work, buy goods and services, and attend events. 

The metaverse is “going to be a big focus, and I think that this is just going to be a big part of the next chapter for the way that the internet evolves after the mobile internet,” Zuckerberg told. “I think it’s going to be the next big chapter for our company too, really doubling down in this area,” he added. So clearly, the vision for the future of Facebook Inc. lies with the metaverse concept. 

What Can We Expect? 

Facebook also said in July that it was creating a product team to work on the metaverse, which would be part of augmented reality and virtual reality. The revamping may position the Facebook app as one of many products like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, under a parent company. As of now, Facebook already has over 10,000 employees who build AR glasses, which will eventually be as universal as smartphones.

What is in the Future?

“In the coming years, I expect people will transition from seeing us primarily as a social media company to seeing us as a metaverse company,” Zuckerberg said. “In many ways, the metaverse is the ultimate expression of social technology,” he added.

The finance chief Dave Wehner also reported that Facebook is spending billions and his expectations on the success of the metaverse.

Zuckerberg wants and believes in a “virtual environment” that will be accessible from any device, even those that aren’t built by Facebook. 

Why is the Change?

One reason reported concerning the change of the name is because Zuckerberg wants the new version of the internet without operating systems and devices created by competitors, like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. He believes it is a disadvantage for Facebook because of the software constraints the competitors built. 

Zuckerberg says “there will be many winners in the metaverse, but the more influential Facebook is in building it, the more this new online universe will reflect Facebook’s existing mission.” 

Are we ready for the new technology that will gain momentum in a few years? Let’s watch how the entire reality with an alternate reality will co-exist to foster good things in future!