Facebook, the company which owns Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, has announced that it is changing its name to "Meta". The name change only affects Facebook the company and not the app.
In a video statement, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the name "Meta" signifies who they are and what they plan to build which is a metaverse, "...a speculative future iteration of the internet made up of persistent, shared 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe..."
Zuckerberg believes that the metaverse will be the successor of mobile internet and Facebook's business moves in recent years including the acquisition of Oculus VR, a maker of virtual reality glasses, as well as its recent partnership with Ray-Bans to create augmented reality glasses coupled now with the name change signifies its belief and commitment to this concept of a metaverse.
Whether this name-change is a genuine pursuit to build the future internet or an attempt to rebrand away from its numerous scandals over the years, as some critics suggest, remains to be seen.