Facebook Inc announced recently it would be getting a new name to better coincide with the company’s vision of betting big on the metaverse. On Thursday, the company shared its new name and announced plans to change its stock symbol.
What Happened:Facebook Inc will change its name to Meta, a name that encompasses its full investment in growth through the metaverse.
“Connection is evolving and so are we,” the company says on its new website. “The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. Our company’s vision is to help bring the metaverse to life, so we are changing our name to reflect our commitment to this future.”
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the name change at the Facebook Connect event.
“To reflect who we are and what we hope to build, I am proud to announce that starting today, our company is now Meta,” Zuckerberg said. “From now on, we’re going to be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.”
The acquisition of Oculus for $2 billion in 2014 pushed Facebook further into virtual reality and augmented reality over the years. The rebranding comes after the companyannouncedin a memo this year it would be investing heavily in the metaverse.
Facebook will change its FB ticker to MVRS on Dec. 1.
Event Highlights:Along with the name change update, Facebook provided some update on its plans for the metaverse:
- Zuckerberg said augmented reality is more difficult than virtual reality.
- The company announced “Project Cambria,” which it said is not a “new Oculus.”
- Facebook is working on several new products for the metaverse, including some virtual reality items.
- Non-fungible tokens were mentioned several times by Zuckerberg.
- Users will be able to log into Oculus without a Facebook-related account in the future.
- Metaverse growth could come in segments like office, fitness and games, according to Zuckerberg
- “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” from Take Two Interactive Software is coming to Oculus. Gaming is mentioned on one of the entry points for many people into the metaverse.
Reactions:When Facebook announced it was changing its name, many mentioned the timing of the move coinciding with several PR disasters for the company.
Zuckerberg told The Verge the move is about a shift the company is making that has nothing to do with the timing. Facebook is investing $10 billion this year in building the metaverse.
Zuckerberg said the cycle of bad news “had nothing to bear on this. Even though I think some people might want to make that connection, I think that’s sort of a ridiculous thing.”
Sportsbetting.ag took wagers on what Facebook would change its name to. The leading choices were Virtuel (+400), Connect (+500), Horizon (+500), Ecoverse (+700) and Metabook (+800). None of the popular options ended up being correct.
Benzinga''s Wayne Duggan nailed the guess with this.
“If Facebook is focusing its rebranding on the metaverse, there’s a good chance the new name will include either “meta” or “verse.”
One immediate reaction to Facebook’s name change came from Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter Inc and Square Inc. Dorsey tweeted “meta: referring to itself or to the conventions of its genre; self-referential.”
Dorsey trolled Facebook earlier by suggesting the company change its name to “Central Intelligence Corporation.”
FB Price Action:Facebook shares rose 1.5% to $316.92 on Thursday.
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