The corporate name of the social media platform will change to "Meta," to emphasize its "metaverse" vision.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday that the corporate name of the social media platform will change to "Meta," to emphasize its "metaverse" vision. The flagship social network will keep its name.
"From now on we are going to be Metaverse first, not Facebook," Zuckerberg said during a keynote address at the company's annual developer's conference. "I hope that people come to know the Meta brand and the future that we stand for."
Zuckerberg said the company's future will focus on building virtual reality products that connect users through a different medium. He predicted that one billion people will be on the Metaverse in the next decade.
The company describes the metaverse as a three- dimensional virtual space where users can create avatars that represent them. Zuckerberg said the new virtual reality world will allow users to play video games, watch movies, attend concerts, collaborate with colleagues, and gather with friends without leaving their living room.
Zuckerberg called Facebook, which he launched from his college dorm room in 2004, "an iconic social media company," but added that the name no longer "encompasses" everything the company does.
"Right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can't possibly represent everything that we're doing today, let alone in the future," Zuckerberg said.
The company is also changing its stock ticker from "FB" to "MVRS," effective Dec. 1.
This story was originally published by CBS News on Oct. 28, 2021 at 2:26 p.m. ET.
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