Facebook Renames Itself Meta

The social media platform, which has been chastised for spreading disinformation and other concerns, said the shift was part of its bet on the metaverse, a new digital frontier.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, has been working to create the "metaverse," a composite universe that combines online, virtual, and augmented worlds and allows individuals to move freely between them.



Over the last two decades, Facebook has been synonymous with some of the most identifiable branding in the world: a large blue and white letter F.
That is no longer the case. On Thursday, the social networking behemoth made a clear move toward a makeover, renaming itself as Meta and de-emphasizing Facebook's name. The update was followed by a new company logo that was fashioned in the shape of an infinity symbol that was slightly off-kilter. Facebook's other programmes, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will continue to exist, but under the Meta banner Click.

The move exemplifies how Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, intends to refocus his Silicon Valley firm on what he sees as the next digital frontier: the integration of diverse digital realms into something termed the metaverse. At the same time, changing Facebook may help the firm remove itself from the current social networking concerns, such as how it is used to disseminate hate speech and disinformation.

Mr. Zuckerberg said during a virtual gathering on Thursday to highlight Facebook's technical bets on the future, "I've been thinking a lot about our identity" with this new chapter. "I'd like to think of us as a metaverse corporation in the future."