Facebook on Thursday announced that it has changed its company name to Meta
The name change was disclosed at the Facebook Connect augmented and virtual reality conference.
The new name reflects the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media.
Facebook, now known as Meta, has adopted the new moniker, based on the sci-fi term metaverse, to describe its vision for working and playing in a virtual world.
The Chairman and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, announced this on Thursday, saying it is part of a major rebranding.
He said, “Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started.”
The move follows a series of negative stories about Facebook, based on documents leaked by Frances Haugen, an ex-employee.
However, the change does not apply to its individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, only the parent company that owns them.
