BY JOE MARING
There's a new name for Facebook. The company is now called 'Meta,' and it's supposed to better reflect its metaverse ambitions. Here's what we know.
Facebook has long been one of the most recognizable companies on the planet, but as of today, it's now known as 'Meta.' In November 2019, Facebook announced a new logo for its overarching business. The Facebook name was almost exclusively associated with the social media site, but Facebook wanted to make it clear that there was more to it than just that. That's why on apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Oculus, a large Facebook logo in all caps appears at the bottom of the screen.
But that was 2019. In late 2021, Facebook is in a much different position. It's investing more into VR than ever before, is actively hyping up its vision for the metaverse, and criticism against the company is stronger than ever. Likely because of a combination of all these things, Facebook determined it was time for another change.
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Towards the end of the opening keynote for Facebook Connect 2021, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced what everyone was waiting for: Facebook has a new name. From this point forward, Facebook is going by the name 'Meta.' The Facebook social media site is staying the same, but the company behind it and everything else now bears the Meta brand. In a letter written by Zuckerberg, the CEO explains, "Our mission remains the same — it’s still about bringing people together. Our apps and their brands aren’t changing either. We’re still the company that designs technology around people. But all of our products, including our apps, now share a new vision: to help bring the metaverse to life. And now we have a name that reflects the breadth of what we do."
Why Facebook Changed Its Name To Meta
There are a few reasons behind this change — the most prominent of which is Facebook's (er, Meta's) focus on the metaverse. The metaverse is Meta's vision for how people will interact with the internet over the coming decades. Instead of using apps/websites from phones, tablets, and computers, people will interact with more immersive experiences via virtual reality, mixed reality, and smart glasses. It's a lofty ambition that'll take years to fully develop, but it's something Facebook's putting an enormous amount of time and money behind. Given that the metaverse is now the company's primary focus over a declining social media website, having that be the focus of the new name makes sense.
At least that's the marketing pitch Meta's throwing out there. Over the past few years, the Facebook name has brought a negative connotation with it. When someone thinks of Facebook, that's now associated with online misinformation, rising addiction/anxiety among young people, and leaked internal documents showing a total lack of disregard for the public good. Zuckerberg and crew clearly want to distance themselves from that as much as possible. One way to do that is by kicking the Facebook name to the curb and picking up a new identity.
Zuckerberg wants Meta to be a big step forward for his company. The growing metaverse holds a lot of potential, the technology behind it could be legitimately game-changing, and he wrote a 1600+ word letter explaining all of this. But at the end of the day, Meta is still just a new name for Facebook. It may have a flashy new logo, but all of the problems associated with Facebook are still associated with Meta. Unless meaningful changes are made to seriously address these issues, it's hard to see this as little more than a glorified marketing stunt.
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