Facebook is renaming its company as it shifts its focus to “the metaverse” and faces widespread scrutiny of real-world damage from its various platforms after hundreds of internal documents were leaked by a whistleblower.
The rebranding may be part of Facebook’s effort to change its reputation and turn the page after a series of PR nightmares, including misinformation on its platform, content moderation failures, and the negative impact of its products on the mental health of some users. Includes disclosures.
“We’re thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter. Facebook is one of the most used products in the history of the world,” Zuckerberg said on Thursday. “It is an iconic social media brand, but increasingly it does not include everything we do.
“Today we are seen as a social media company,” he said, “but in our DNA, we are a company that builds technology to connect people. And Metaverse is the next frontier when it comes to social networking. We started.”
Zuckerberg, who said he liked studying the classics at school, said the name was inspired by the Greek word meta, meaning “beyond.” “To me, it symbolizes that there is always more to build.”
Zuckerberg launched the larger product program by teasing a range of new social, gaming and workplace concepts for the Metaverse and acknowledging the optics of focusing on such products amid the company’s renewed scrutiny.
Zuckerberg said, “I know some people will say this is not the time to focus on the future, and I want to acknowledge that there are important issues to work on in the present. There will always be.” “So for many, I’m not sure there would be a good time to focus on the future. But I also know that many of you feel the same way that I do.”
“We live for what we’re making,” Zuckerberg said. “And when we make mistakes, we keep learning and building and moving forward.”
Zuckerberg also announced that Messenger Calling is coming to VR, with plans to operate a virtual marketplace where developers can sell virtual goods and a new home in Oculus Quest to make chatting and games more social in the virtual world. Screen.
“Your equipment will no longer be the focus of your attention,” he said. “We are starting to see a lot of these technologies come together in the next five or 10 years. A lot of it is going to become mainstream and many of us will be building and inhabiting a world that is just as wide and Be reassuring to be this one, on a daily basis.”
Many major companies have replaced established brands over the years. Kentucky Fried Chicken shortened its name to KFC, becoming the Japanese car brand Datsun Nissan. Some high-profile name changes have followed scandal or controversy. For example, Marlboro manufacturer Philip Morris changed its name to Altria and became ValuJet AirTran after one of its planes crashed in 1996.
Other name changes are meant to reflect the company’s broader ambitions. Snapchat rebranded as Snap in 2016 to reflect its foray into hardware, and Google reorganized the company with a new name, Alphabet, and plans to grow a variety of business divisions.
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