Facebook’s new company website, Meta.com, currently redirects to the original corporate website to a page dedicated to explaining the new direction of the company
Social media giant Facebook has unveiled a brand new name for its corporate facing brand, Meta.
Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name on Thursday, stating that the change was aimed at reflecting its growing focus on the metaverse.
"Today, we're seen as a social media company. But in our DNA, we're a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier, just like social networking was when we got started," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at Thursday's Connect 2021 event.
"From now on, we're going to be metaverse first, not Facebook first. That means that over time, you won't need to use Facebook to use our other services as our new brand starts showing up in our products. I hope that people come to know the Meta brand and the future that we stand for."
The rebranding comes as Facebook continues to face major PR scandals, including the latest testimony by former product manager-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen and a series of reports from The Wall Street Journal and a media consortium of 17 U.S. news outlets, which has now been named “The Facebook Files and Facebook Papers.”
Facebook’s new company website, Meta.com, currently redirects to the original corporate website to a page dedicated to explaining the new direction of the company.
According to the page, “Connection is evolving and so are we… The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. Our company’s vision is to help bring the metaverse to life, so we are changing our name to reflect our commitment to this future.”
The name change was announced at the company’s Facebook Connect event, which was used to outline its vision for a metaverse – an online world where people can meet, play and work virtually, often using VR headsets.
Along with the name change, the company has launched a new Twitter account and website. It will also transition from its FB ticker symbol to MVRS beginning on Dec. 1. Shares of Facebook jumped as much as 3% following the announcement.
The rebranding comes as Facebook continues to face major PR scandals, including the latest testimony by former product manager-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen and a series of reports from The Wall Street Journal and a media consortium of 17 U.S. news outlets, which has now been named “The Facebook Files and Facebook Papers.”
Related > Facebook and apps shutter a day after whistleblower makes appearance
Zuckerberg acknowledged the scandal during the announcement, "I know that some people will say this isn't a time to focus on the future, and I want to acknowledge that there are important issues to work on in the present. There always will be. So for many people, I'm just not sure there ever will be a good time to focus on the future."
The change does not apply to its individual platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, only to the parent company that owns them.
