Social media giant Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name to focus on building the metaverse, according to a report by The Verge.
CEO Mark Zuckerburg is planning to talk about the name change at the annual Connect conference taking place on 28th October. But there’s a possibility that the announcement could happen earlier than that. The rebrand would likely position Facebook’s social media app as one of many products under a parent company, which will also oversee groups like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more, the report added.
It has come at a time Facebook faces significant pressure following revelations from whistleblower France Haugen, who told US Congress the company had put “astronomical profits before people” and that it harms children and is destabilising democracies. Haugen has been behind the leak of several documents to the Wall Street Journal, including showing internal research revealing 30% of teenage girls felt Instagram made dissatisfaction with their body worse.
Facebook announced Sunday that it plans to recruit 10,000 jobs in Europe for the next five years to help build the metaverse the company sees as a key component of its future.
Facebook has set up a dedicated metaverse team which Mark Zukerberg says is going to be a big part of the next chapter “for the way that the internet evolves after the mobile internet.” He also added that the company will be doubling down in this area.
