On October 28, local time, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced at the Facebook Connect conference that Facebook will be renamed "Meta", derived from the "Metaverse".
Zuckerberg said that from now on, it will be metaverse first, not Facebook first. "I studied classical literature before, and the word 'meta' comes from the Greek word meaning 'transcendence.' To me, it symbolizes that there is always more to build, that there is always the next chapter in the story. ”
Zuckerberg says technology needs to be built to bring people together. Metaverses are the next frontier to connect people, just like when we first started using social networks, "Over time, I want to see us as a metaverse company, and I want to position our work and identity in the goals we're building." ”
Facebook's name change comes at a time of turmoil for the social media giant. In the past few weeks, Frances Haugen, a former employee of the company, has leaked thousands of pages of the company's internal documents to multiple media outlets, showing discussions within Facebook about how to selectively enforce company rules and amplify hate speech. Haugen has gone to the U.S. And British parliaments to testify, and has continued to repeat allegations against Facebook in the media, reinforcing the public's longstanding impression that Facebook has failed to protect user privacy and that there is misinformation, bullying and violent content. Continued criticism has led to a negative impact on the Facebook brand on the company's other businesses, such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus VR.
Zuckerberg said it's been a long time since he considered changing the company's name, so it's not a whim on our part." He initially argued that Facebook was "the iconic brand of social media," and even given the variety of mobile apps the company offers, it makes sense to adopt Facebook as the company's name. But for now, in his opinion, "there is no longer any point in doing so".