Facebook is in the news again, but not for the reason you think. They are rebranding. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the other week that the company’s new name will be Meta. During the company’s Connect event, Zuckerberg stated  “Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started”. 

Meta’s future goal is to become the mobile internet’s successor. The company expects “to invest many billions of dollars for years to come before the metaverse reaches scale,” says Zuckerberg. New ventures like Meta’s virtual reality headset and AR-capable smart glasses will help achieve this goal. 

With that being said, many are speculating that this rebranding has something to do with the recent news reports involving Facebook. Former Facebook employee and whistle blower, Frances Haugen disclosed several internal documents implying that Facebook does not do enough to stop harmful behavior on the platform. Their main motivation in doing so is profit. 

Time will tell the real effects of Meta as they continue to roll out the company’s new objectives but it is safe to say that Meta’s goal is to play a role in everyone’s everyday life. There has been talk of opening physical retail stores worldwide. Early designs of the retails stores look modern and would be a way for Meta to introduce new products directly to the consumer.