Report: Facebook Considers Changing its Name

Muhammad Hammad Rafique

Facebook Considers Changing its Name

A report published on The Verge states that Facebook is planning to change its name.

Facebook Inc. is facing intense scrutiny over its business practices, is planning a name change. According to a source with firsthand knowledge of the matter, the new name will reflect Facebook’s focus on building the Metaverse.

The coming name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk about at the company’s annual Connect conference on 28th October, is directed to signal the tech giant’s plan to be known more than as a social media application and all the ills associated with it.

The rebranding/renaming will position Facebook and WhatsApp, Oculus, Instagram, and more applications under a parent company. Google already operates on a similar structure. It will not be an unprecedented move in the industry.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment, saying that the company doesn’t comment on rumors or speculations.

However, Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, has said that the company’s future lies with the Metaverse concept – the idea that users will live, work, and exercise inside a virtual universe. The company’s VR (virtual reality) headsets and services are an integral and instrumental part of realizing the Metaverse Vision.

Zuckerberg said in July, “In the coming years, I expect people will transition from seeing us primarily as a social media company to seeing us as a Metaverse company.” He further added that “In many ways, the Metaverse is the ultimate expression of social technology.”

It is not the first time that someone in Silicon Valley is changing its name to expand its service.

Google, in 2015, established Alphabet Inc. as a holding company to expand beyond its search and advertising business. The Alphabet Inc. umbrella now covers Google’s various other ventures, from autonomous vehicle unit and health technology to providing internet service in remote areas.

Facebook has revolutionized virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). It announced the company’s plans to create 10,000 jobs in European Union over the next 5 years to help build this Metaverse.

The word Metaverse was coined three decades ago in a dystopian novel. Microsoft has referred to this concept as well.

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