Facebook company renames itself to 'Meta'

Facebook is no longer a social network and it has now transformed into a social technology company called Meta that will build metaverse, a virtual reality world that blends online social experiences with immersive experiences.

The rebranding to Meta was announced by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook at Connect 2021, an annual conference held by the company. The corporate structure will not change but as announced in the Q3 2021 Earnings Report, Facebook plans to categorize Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) as a separate reporting segment.

In these segments, Family of Apps will include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services, and FRL will include augmented and virtual reality related hardware, software and content.

In the Founder's Letter for Meta, Zuckerberg mentions users will be able to work, learn, play, shop, and create in the virtual world with three dimensions. One may even be able to appear at an office as a hologram. More of such physical experiences would be replicated in the metaverse.

Since the news of the rebranding broke out, the move has garnered negative reactions predominantly and #DeleteFacebook had been trending on Twitter. The recent reports based on the internal documents that surfaced along with findings by the Facebook whistleblower becoming public have been drawing major flak to Facebook.

Also Read: Key Takeaways from Facebook Q3 2021 Report

The diminishing brand reputation has also been cited as a reason for rebranding so Facebook's future endeavors are not haunted by the unfavorable present. Along with users expressing their dismissal, brands have also been seen pausing advertising on Facebook.

The recently released facebook Q3 2021 Earnings Report also shows decreased adverting revenue since the last quarter, although daily and monthly active usage remains considerably high on the Facebook family of apps.

Building the metaverse would remain the core focus of the company now, Facebook had recently announced it will be investing USD 50 Mn in global research and program partners and will be collaborating with industry partners, policymakers, and experts for further development of the metaverse, this was followed by an announcement of specific investments in the EU region.

The development of metaverse was first announced by Mark Zuckerberg with a Facebook post, and now the company has allocated funds, initiated programs, and partnered with organizations to build the next computing platform. Facebook states many of the products in the metaverse will require 10-15 years to be built, but the near future looks bleak for Facebook in light of recent hindrances to its brand reputation.