In an unexpected turn of events, Facebook has announced its plan to rebrand the company with a new name that would incorporate the new metaverse-tic approach. According to a source with direct knowledge, the rebranding of Facebook will be introduced to the public on October 28th, at the company’s annual Connect conference by the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. 

 

Facebook was introduced to the world on February 4, 2004, as the pinnacle of social media networking by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates. Even in the early years, Facebook served as the most popular social media platform and has retained the title since. Currently, the large organization employs over 60,000 people, which will now increase with the rebranding.

Facebook is the umbrella company for Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more but has been recently in a controversial position. This rebranding will not only improve the optics of the company but will also offer a plethora of new features. 

Mark Zuckerberg said, “We will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company.”

This rebrand couldn’t have come at a better time for Facebook as it is dealing with the repercussions of the statement from the former employee turned whistleblower, Frances Haugen. According to the statement which was testified before Congress, Facebook is compromising on public trust when conducting business. 

 

What will Facebook’s Rebranding entail?

Facebook isn’t the first popular tech company to make the decision of rebranding. In 2015, Google under Alphabet rebranded itself to indicate that it is no longer just a “Search Engine” but a conglomerate with companies working to develop driverless cars and health tech. Also, Snapchat, the popular photo-sharing platform, rebranded itself to Snap Inc. in 2016. 

 

The new name for the platform has not been revealed yet and is only trusted by the upper management team. However, as Facebook is developing an unreleased VR version of Facebook, chances are the name will symbolize the growing world of tech. 

Facebook has been steadily laying the foundation for initiating the next generation of technology in the past summer. Andrew Bosworth, the head of AR and VR will be promoted to CTO, and Facebook will also hire 10,000 more employees to work solely on Metaverse in Europe. 

 

Zuckerberg said, “The metaverse is “going to be a big focus, and I think that this is just going to be a big part of the next chapter for the way that the internet evolves after the mobile internet,” He further added, “And I think it’s going to be the next big chapter for our company too, really doubling down in this area.”

Before the official announcement, Facebook has been subtly promoting the concept of the metaverse, which is largely still new to the millions of users of Facebook. But undoubtedly, Facebook promoting the concept of Metaverse is sure to pique its user’s interest. 

In conclusion, Facebook’s move to rebrand will be a huge change in the social networking industry and will bring some anticipated and some unfamiliar changes to the platform.