Facebook is dead, long live Meta!

Facebook is dead, long live Meta!
Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg
Avatar of Harry Johnson
Written by Harry Johnson

While Zuckerberg has not yet revealed full details of the coming metaverse, the Meta subsite on Facebook’s homepage describes it as “the next evolution of social connection.”

  • Facebook is aiming to transition to become “a metaverse company” rather than a social media platform.
  • Facebook stocks gain 2.75% to $8.6 per share during the trading session on the New York Stock Exchange.
  • While it’s not clear when Zuckerberg decided on the name Meta, a company by that name was acquired by his Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2017.

Facebook changes its name to Meta, Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced at the online presentation on Thursday that the company is changing its name, and going forward, it will be known as Meta.

“I’m proud to share that our company is now Meta,” Zuckerberg declared.

“We are a company that builds technology to connect,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said when announcing the name change on Thursday during the company’s Connect 2021 event. 

“Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”

Beset by recent scandals, mired in numerous antitrust probes, battling investigations in multiple countries, and desperately trying to defuse the revelations from an explosive series of internal document leaks, Facebook is aiming to transition to become “a metaverse company” rather than a social media platform, and hinted earlier this month that it would be taking on a new direction based on an immersive “metaverse” experience.

While Zuckerberg has not yet revealed full details of the coming metaverse, the Meta subsite on Facebook’s homepage describes it as “the next evolution of social connection.”

The CEO can be seen “ascending into the Metaverse” in a video clip shown during his Connect 2021 keynote speech, in which he stares off into space as his surroundings turn a vaguely computerized shade of blue. 

While it’s not clear when Zuckerberg decided on the name Meta, a company by that name was acquired by his Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2017. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, not far from Facebook’s own headquarters, the firm operated a “literature discovery platform” called Meta Science.

According to Zuckerberg, he had been thinking about rebranding Facebook’s holding company ever since his acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp (in 2012 and 2014, respectively), and finally opted to do so this year. 

Fueled by name change news, Facebook stocks gain 2.75% to $8.6 per share during the trading session on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

About the author

Avatar of Harry Johnson

Harry Johnson

Harry Johnson has been the assignment editor for eTurboNews for mroe than 20 years. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is originally from Europe. He enjoys writing and covering the news.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
Share to...