Facebook changes name to Meta as it refocuses on virtual reality

Facebook changes name to Meta as it refocuses on virtual reality
By Elizabeth Culliford and Sheila Dang
40 minutes ago

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) is now called Meta, the company said on Thursday, in a rebrand that focuses on investing in the "metaverse," a shared virtual environment that it bets will be the successor to the mobile internet.

The name change comes as the world's largest social media company battles criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its services.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company's live-streamed virtual and augmented reality conference, said the new name reflected its ambitions to build the metaverse, rather than its namesake social media service, which will continue to be called Facebook.

The metaverse is a term coined in the dystopian novel "Snow Crash" three decades ago and now attracting buzz in Silicon Valley. It refers broadly to the idea of a shared virtual realm which can be accessed by people using different devices.

"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," said Zuckerberg.

The company, which has invested heavily in augmented and virtual reality, said the change would bring together its different apps and technologies under one new brand. It said it would not change its corporate structure.

The tech giant, which reports about 2.9 billion monthly users, has faced increasing scrutiny in recent years from global lawmakers and regulators.

In the latest controversy, whistleblower and former Facebook employee Frances Haugen leaked documents which she said showed the company chose profit over user safety. Zuckerberg earlier this week said the documents were being used to paint a "false picture."

The company said in a blog post that it intends to start trading under the new stock ticker it has reserved, MVRS, on Dec. 1. On Thursday, it unveiled a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, replacing its thumbs-up "Like" logo with a blue infinity shape.

Facebook shares closed 1.5% higher at $316.92 on Thursday.

Facebook said this week that its hardware division Facebook Reality Labs, which is responsible for AR and VR efforts, would become a separate reporting unit and that its investment in it would reduce this year's total operating profit by about $10 billion.

This year, the company created a product team in this unit focused on the metaverse and it recently announced plans to hire 10,000 employees in Europe over the next five years to work on the effort.

In an interview with tech publication the Information, Zuckerberg said he has not considered stepping down as CEO, and has not thought "very seriously yet" about spinning off this unit.

The division will now be called Reality Labs, its head Andrew "Boz" Bosworth said on Thursday. The company will also stop using the Oculus branding for its VR headsets, instead calling them "Meta" products.

The name change, the plan for which was first reported by the Verge, is a significant rebrand for Facebook, but not its first. In 2019 it launched a new logo to create a distinction between the company and its social app.

The company's reputation has taken multiple hits in recent years, including over its handling of user data and its policing of abuses such as health misinformation, violent rhetoric and hate speech. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has also filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging anticompetitive practices.

"While it'll help alleviate confusion by distinguishing Facebook's parent company from its founding app, a name change doesn't suddenly erase the systemic issues plaguing the company," said Mike Proulx, research director at market research firm Forrester.

The plans to phase out the Facebook name even from products like video calling device Portal show the company is eager to protect the unprecedented scrutiny from the rest of its apps, said Prashant Malaviya, a marketing professor at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. read more

"Without a doubt, (the Facebook name) is definitely damaged and toxic," he said.

Zuckerberg said the new name, coming from the Greek word for "beyond," symbolized there was always more to build. Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) CEO Jack Dorsey on Thursday tweeted out a different definition "referring to itself or to the conventions of its genre; self-referential."

Zuckerberg said the new name also reflects that over time, users will not need to use Facebook to use the company's other services.

In 2015, Google reorganized to create a new holding company called Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), as the popular search engine broke into new fields such as self-driving cars, high-speed broadband and expanded its cloud business. Snapchat also rebranded to Snap Inc (SNAP.N) in 2016, the same year it launched its first pair of smart glasses.

Regular Member Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29

Nobody asked for this new Facebook feature
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said his company was rebranding as something called
"Meta" that would involve immersive virtual reality technology.

As Zuckerberg asks users to imagine putting on a virtual reality headset and seeing an "incredibly inspiring view of whatever you find most a group of torch-bearing Nazis walk past him chanting, "Jews will not replace us!"

bwahaa good one- watch;

https://twitter.com/i/status/1453860614376357889

"In the future you'll have wearable avatars and a fully immersive experience to enjoy as we bombard you with SPAM and the 'Murican police state helps us extract your personal data for sale to anyone willing to pay us for it, or just to use against you if we feel like it!"

Nah, I'm good bruh.

Regular Member Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29

10-29-2021

Lawmakers 'fed up' with Facebook send tech company's lobbyists scrambling.

According to a report from Politico, the "army" of lobbyists representing Facebook are finding closed doors in Congress as they attempt to do damage control for the tech giant still reeling from revelations made by former employee Frances Haugen.

As the report notes, Facebook -- which was brutally mocked on Thursday after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company was rebranding as "Meta" -- is finding that representatives of the company are no longer being welcomed by lawmakers and their aides even when they are trying to deliver good news about changes at the company.

According to Politico's Emily Birnbaum, "Several congressional aides involved in efforts to regulate the tech companies say they are fed up with Facebook's government relations strategy — an attitude that is making it even harder for the company to recover from the revelations of whistleblower Frances Haugen. Some offices on the Hill have started to either ignore the company's outreach or ban its representatives altogether."

As Crystal Patterson, who worked at Facebook for seven years before quitting in frustration explained, "Over time, the relationship has soured in such a way that even if Facebook comes to Congress with good news, it's met with skepticism or [lawmakers and aides] pivot to something else they're not happy with," adding that trying to talk to lawmakers had become a "tough thing."

"The problem right now is that the perception of the company is so negative that, even as the company's working on things these members would care about and making improvements, they're not receptive to hearing about it," she added.

"Five congressional aides told POLITICO that Facebook's reputation has been plummeting for years, and the situation has worsened in the wake of Haugen's revelations.
They spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about private conversations, " Birnbaum wrote, adding, "Some say Facebook's struggles in Congress are only the latest example of a company that is increasingly losing friends in Washington."

One congressional aide put it more succinctly, telling Politico, "For the most part, they've had little influence for the last few years. It's not like there was too much lower to go. Their brand generally is worse, so no one cares about Facebook's opposition to legislation."

Regular Member Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29

10-29-2021

Metaverse, Mars, meditation retreats:
billionaires want to escape the world they ruined.

Facebook’s name change has been roundly mocked on social media,
and perhaps nowhere more so than in Israel:

As images of Facebook’s name superimposed on a tombstone were shared online, Dr Nirit Weiss-Blatt,
a tech expert, wrote in a tweet directed towards Facebook’s communications team:

“In Hebrew, *Meta* means *Dead*.”

The author of The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication added:
“The Jewish community will ridicule this name for years to come.” Meta sounds like the feminine form
of the Hebrew word.

Another Twitter user posed the question: “Perhaps that’s a message? Disclaimer: I’m not a conspiracist.” And another wrote: “Maybe Facebook (I guess Meta now?) should have done some focus groups on the rebranding. #FacebookDead”

The Israeli emergency rescue organisation Zaka – whose work includes collecting human remains to ensure a proper Jewish burial – was quoted as reassuring its Twitter followers:
“Don’t worry, we’re on it.”

The Facebook rebrand on Thursday was met with laughter of a different kind at a lesser-known Canadian industrial materials company whose share price surged in an apparent case of mistaken identity.

Reuters reported that shares in Meta Materials, based in Nova Scotia,jumped 6% in opening trades
on the Nasdaq on Friday, after a 26% rise in after-hours trading. Facebook shares were up 1.6%.

Meta Materials specialises in designing materials used in industries including consumer electronics and aerospace and has an estimated market value of $1.3bn (£950m). It remained unclear whether the shares climb was really caused by the similarity in names.
One user on the Reddit community dedicated to discussing Meta Materials’ stock asked: “Is the (after-hours) price action real, or are people buying MMAT thinking they are getting Facebook for really cheap?”

Whatever the reasons, the company was quick to celebrate its unexpected windfall.
George Palikaras, the CEO of Meta Materials, joined
in on the fun, tweeting:
“On behalf of @Metamaterialtec I would like to cordially welcome @Facebook to the #metaverse.”

FaceBook is running a smidge behind... They're whining about a 2019 post!!!

Facebook changes name to Meta as it refocuses on virtual reality Aki4nlV

FaceBook is running a smidge behind... They're whining about a 2019 post!!!

Facebook changes name to Meta as it refocuses on virtual reality Aki4nlV

I really hope Panquake can launch soon; this is an ideal time to present an alternative to the current social media hellscape.

Regular Member Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29

Obi-- what is that about?? huh?

Temple wrote:: Obi-- what is that about?? huh?

Doesn't concern you. Move along.

Regular Member Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29

The Wise And Powerful wrote:

Temple wrote:: Obi-- what is that about?? huh?

Doesn't concern you. Move along.

All your posts concern me -
So-- what is it?

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