Facebook Changes Its Name To Meta

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's co-founder and CEO, revealed on his Facebook page that the firm has changed its name from Facebook to Meta. The name change has been speculated for a few weeks now, and it has now been confirmed. 

"To reflect who we are and the future we hope to build, I'm proud to share that our company is now Meta. From now on, we will be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first. I hope people around the world come to know the Meta brand and the future we stand for," wrote Zuckerberg on his Facebook Page.

He also explains the vision behind Metaverse and how it will give users an immersive experience. "An embodied internet where you're in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse, and it will touch every product we build. The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence -like you are right there with another person or in another place. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology. That is why we are focused on building this." 

Zuckerberg reveals that he has a very futuristic vision for the metaverse, "In this 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 opportunity 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."

"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," adds Zukerberg.

The new name's concept and meaning were also explained by Zuckerberg. The word "meta" derives from a Greek word that means "beyond," and it represents the idea that there is always more to build and a new chapter to the story.

Industry Reactions

Ashwini_Deshpande_Co-Founder, Director_Elephant Design - Metaverse is the most discussed concept of recent times. For a house of brands in the content & media space, Meta is an ace of a name at this point in time.  It liberates the house from the perception of being social media bouquet into future tech groups. The squat infinity loop is rather unremarkable and overused. Since the name is so future-ready and so vast in its potential, perhaps no visual identity could have been enough to describe the scale and possibilities.

Sidharth Singh – Co-founder CupShup - For the company that brought out the revolution of social media, it’s not just a name now -- it’s a statement and a bold one for that matter. Over the years, the way the company grew in multitude and has revolutionized technology in a way that no one saw it coming. Being a tech giant, Facebook has made an impact in the advertising ecosystem that can’t go unnoticed and is now a norm in the sector. From VR to AI, the company has ingrained itself in science and technology for the better and good -- and now with their new stance, it would be interesting to see what they build for the future.

Siddharth Devnani, Co-Founder & Partner, SoCheers said, "Looking at the growing future of digital and virtual reality, Facebook has been investing in such platforms and technologies, since quite some time now. They have been talking about the constantly blurring lines between the physical and the virtual world and how they have been at the centre of it all. Unfortunately, despite all these efforts, Facebook has also received a backlash on misinformation and privacy in the last few years. Therefore, in their effort to keep their users secure and intact along with growing from more than just a social media networking company, the name change signifies its philosophy of metaverse. So, the fairly bold name 'Meta', officially drives the company and the users into this new direction. Having said that, it is a wait and watch game on how they do justice to this name in terms of building the metaverse and doing it right, balancing the best interest of users, advertisers and themselves."