On 28th October, CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg announced facebook’s new corporate name, Meta. This is to rebuild the company’s image from just a social network to be a tech innovator. Meta’s focus is on building next-generation online interaction – “Metaverse”
When speaking at facebook’s Connect conference, Mark Zuckerberg said “it’s time for us to adopt. The social media app Facebook used by over 3billion people will remain Facebook. Recently, Facebook was down, could this be the reason for Facebook rebranding? We are yet to find out.
Zuckerberg says Metaverse is the next big computing platform. It is where people will shift their attention and money in the future.
What is Metaverse
The term Metaverse was stamped by Neal Stephenson – a science fiction writer, in his novel, snow crash. He used to refer to immersive virtual spaces.
Think of Metaverse as the internet brought to life in 3D. The CEO has described it as a “virtual Environment” you can go into, not just look at. The virtual environment is where people meet, work, and play using virtual reality. They use headsets and augmented reality glasses, smartphones, and other devices.
On Thursday Facebook demonstrated a number of these experiences. Because of this increased scope in vision, the company expects to hire 10, 000 people in Europe over a five-year period.
There will, of course, be a heavy investment. Also, we will continue to see billions of dollars invested in this project. Zuckerberg has expectations to see Metaverse used by over a billion people. He says it will generate great results in digital commerce. Mark Zuckerberg however, stated that the vision remains, “a long way off.”
According to reports by Bloomberg in March 2021, people under 30 are spending less time on Facebook. They are posting less and sending fewer messages.
What will Metaverse Do?
Since the COVID19 pandemic, we have seen a use of meeting apps like zoom, google meet, and Microsoft teams to attend virtual meetings.
What Does Rebranding Mean for Facebook?
To start Facebook will not be changing its name or logo so it will feel like nothing has changed.
The app is leaning more towards appealing to users between the ages of 18 to 29 according to Mark Zuckerberg.
Facebook rebranding could mean different things for the company, the results can be mixed. The individual brands under Meta will continue to exist, Facebook social app, and Instagram.
An example of this rebranding is Google reorganized under the parent company Alphabet in 2015. The company is still well known as Google.
The Metaverse product does look like a product of the future and is expected to yield positive results in both use and profits.
As of building trust with its users, Facebook has lost trust from a number of its users concerning the use of data collected by the platform. Some people may see it as just another way of collecting data.
For marketers, it may mean new ways to reach more people online. Rebranding Facebook will see the company’s vision shifted towards being an innovator.
