Facebook changed its name to Meta at the Connect 2021 event. Meta will later become the parent company that houses Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and others. There is suspicion behind this name change.
Zuckerberg has previously called the metaverse the future of the internet. Although previously the name metaverse was synonymous with something dystopian and tended to be negative, Zuckerberg believes that metaverse will bring great benefits to the digital economy.
"So we wanted to have a new brand identity that, as reported, aligns with the vision of the future we're working on."
However, there are those who think that the name change was made by Facebook to divert attention from some of the controversies that have recently plagued it. For example, a leaked internal research document states that Facebook knows that Instagram is detrimental to the mental health of teenagers and also makes it difficult for Facebook to control hate speech.
"This move appears to be because Facebook is trying to distract from some of the negative reports against the company. Critics believe that Facebook is doing this because the brand is toxic. A senator called this name change cosmetic," wrote James Clayton.
"Secondly, the Metaverse doesn't exist yet. Zuckerberg is emphasizing it as a long-term product. So a name that's completely unrelated to a major service might be a little weird. Third, we know that other brand rebrands are failing. Nobody calls Google Alphabet , he added.
However, this change means that Zuck believes in his vision of the future of the virtual world and it is also possible that he and Meta will be the pioneers. "Nevertheless, we still have to see if people will be interested in it," he concluded.
Zuckerberg's vision of the metaverse is a virtual place where everyone can interact using virtual reality and augmented reality, but still feels like meeting in person.
In addition to emphasizing the company's new focus, Zuckerberg said the name Facebook no longer fits the identity of a company that wants to escape the image of a social media company. Especially now that they have Instagram and WhatsApp, so the use of the name Facebook is not suitable to represent the company's identity.