According to a source who has direct knowledge of the matter, Facebook plans to change its company's name to reflect its focus on the metaverse.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg will announce the name change at the company's annual Connect conference, October 28th. However, it could be revealed sooner. This is to show the tech giants desire to be more than just social media and all its ills. The new branding would position the Facebook blue app as one of many products that is part of a parent company that oversees groups such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and others. Facebook spokesperson declined to comment on this story.
Facebook plans to become a metaverse company
Facebook already employs more than 10,000 people to create consumer hardware such as AR glasses, which Zuckerberg thinks will become as common as smartphones. He told The Verge in July that we will be moving from being primarily a social media company to becoming a metaverse company over the next few years.
The rebrand could help Zuckerberg focus on his futuristic work and not be subject to the harsh scrutiny Facebook has placed on its current social media platform. Frances Haugen (a former employee who became a whistleblower) recently leaked a number of disturbing internal documents to The Wall Street Journal. She also testified before Congress about them. The US antitrust regulators are trying to discredit the company, and the public is losing faith in Facebook's business practices.
Facebook is not the only tech company that has changed its name to reflect its expansion plans. Google was reorganized under Alphabet in 2015 to show that it wasn't just a search engine but also a conglomerate of companies involved with driverless cars and health technology. In 2016, Snapchat changed its name to Snap Inc., the same year that it began calling itself a camera company. It also launched its first pair of Spectacles cameras glasses.
According to me, the name of the new Facebook company is kept a secret within the company's walls. It is not known by anyone outside its senior leadership. A possible name could have something to do with Horizon, the name of the still-unreleased VR version of Facebook-meets-Roblox that the company has been developing for the past few years. After Facebook released Horizon Workrooms, the name of the app was changed to Horizon Worlds.
Facebook has been working to prepare for a brand change
Facebook has been steadily building the foundation for the next generation technology, aside from Zuckerberg's comments. It established a metaverse team this summer. It also announced that Andrew Bosworth (head of AR/VR) will be promoted as chief technology officer. Just a few days ago, Facebook announced that it would hire 10,000 additional employees to help with the metaverse in Europe.
The metaverse will be a major focus. Zuckerberg said this to The Verges Casey Newton in August that it is going to be a key part of the next chapter that will see the evolution of the internet after mobile internet. It will be the next major chapter for our company, with a significant increase in this area.
The metaverse is still a new concept. This is complicated by the fact that Facebook has been heavily advocating the idea in recent weeks. Neal Stephenson, a sci-fi author, first coined the term to describe a virtual realm people can escape from a dystopian world. It is now being used by one of the most prominent and controversial companies in the world. They will have to explain why their virtual world is worthwhile.
