Facebook revealed its new corporate name on Thursday, rebranding the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as “Meta” as it grapples with a torrent of scandals.
The tech giant’s old name just “doesn’t encompass everything that we do,” founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a lengthy online event.
The new name is part of Zuckerberg’s long-term push to emphasize the “metaverse” — the company’s budding virtual reality world where users can socialize, work, play games and create art.
Thursday’s presentation included demonstrations of what Zuckerberg said were the possibilities of the metaverse. In one demo, a user wearing a headset walked the streets of ancient Rome, while in another, a user attended a virtual reality rock concert and afterparty.
The change comes as Facebook seeks to shake a torrent of scandals after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked company research showing Instagram’s negative effect on teens’ mental health, Facebook’s struggles to stop human trafficking on its platform and the widespread sharing of false news about elections on its sites.
Source: Facebook changes its corporate name to ‘Meta’ amid torrent of scandals
