Facebook has changed its parent company name to Meta. This was announced by Mark Zuckerberg at Connect 2021.
Meta according to the company builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.
The change does not apply to its individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, only the parent company that owns them. Facebook said it intends to start trading its shares under the new stock ticker MVRS from 1 December.
At the event, Zuckerberg unveiled plans to build a “metaverse” – an online world where people can game, work, and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.
He said the existing brand could not possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future, and needed to change.
“Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” he told a virtual conference.
“We’re now looking at and reporting on our business as two different segments, one for our family of apps, and one for our work on future platforms.
“And as part of this, it is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do, to reflect who we are and what we hope to build.”
The move was prompted by a series of negative stories about Facebook, based on documents leaked by an ex-employee.
