Facebook Ditches Name In Response To Scandal, Introduces Metaverse
By Kristin Myers on October 29, 2021 at 7:43 AM EDT
Updated on October 29, 2021 at 8:11 AM EDT
The rumors are true. On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be changing its name to Meta. The social media juggernaut, which was first launched in 2004, quickly replaced MySpace as everyone’s go-to social media platform.
Since then, Facebook has become not only a hub to share day-to-day updates with their friends and families, but a place where people can get information on businesses, read the news, buy and sell goods, send and receive money, and join groups with other like-minded individuals.
Describing itself as “the next chapter of social connection,” Meta is ready to reshape the way we think about interacting with social media.
What’s Going To Change?
Announcing @Meta — the Facebook company’s new name. Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where we’ll play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection. pic.twitter.com/ywSJPLsCoD
— Facebook (@Facebook) October 28, 2021
In a tweet made shortly after the announcement, Facebook assured fans that the names of the apps that they built, including Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, would not change.
The Facebook Twitter handle also is staying the same – at least for now. There is a Meta Twitter account, but the tweets are protected, and only approved followers are allowed to view their tweets.
The stock ticker is also staying the same for now, but FB will become MVRS on December 1, according to an official announcement.
“Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people,” Zuckerberg explained. “The metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started.”
So What Is The Megaverse?
The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. It's a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to everyone. You’ll be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what’s possible today. pic.twitter.com/655yFRm8yZ
— Facebook (@Facebook) October 28, 2021
Facebook has invested a considerable amount in subsidiaries like Oculus VR, the German software company fayteq GmbH, and CTRL-labs to help get their vision of the Megaverse off the ground.
In a brief demonstration of what he hoped to accomplish, Zuckerberg showed users hanging out as avatars in 3D space. These avatars can either be based on themselves or take on the appearance of animals or robots to represent their virtual selves.
Although Zuckerberg admitted that this kind of technology is a long way off, Meta plans to invest over $10 billion dollars to develop the technology to make a virtual social media space a reality.
What Do Fans Think About It?
Here’s our first sneak peek at Facebook’s so called metaverse, a virtual place where you can hang out with friends and so much more. pic.twitter.com/Ld5AY0WIz3
— Nathie (@NathieVR) October 28, 2021
Facebook started trending immediately after the news dropped, but it seems that the company is going to have to do a lot more than change its name to win back the trust of its users.
“So when Facebook steals your info, do we now call it Metadata?” one user joked.
“Facebook is changing its name to ‘Meta’ lol they say every 10-15 years you need to recreate yourself so I guess this is them recreating themselves,” another tweeted.
Responses on their live tweet showcasing the technology were equally as negative, with fans describing the 3D virtual environment as “horrific.”
“You’re paid by the big boys so in the end you are a product on their platform, 100% dependent of their decisions,” another wrote. “We do not want this in the Metaverse, we do not want to be products in Facebook’s Metaverse. Be better than this. Corporations shouldn’t build the Metaverse we should.”
