In addition to the social network, the Facebook brand is also associated with negative aspects such as election interference and hate speech. The company now wants to change that. That’s why a new Facebook name is needed. The Metaverse could play a role.
New Facebook name in October 2021
Even before the Wall Street Journal‘s series of revelations, Facebook has repeatedly had to contend with negative headlines over the years. The Cambridge Analytica scandal alone has done considerable damage to the company’s image.
Now, the company apparently wants to part ways with the tarnished brand. The Verge reports that Facebook will change its name as early as next week.
The dream of the Facebook Metaverse
Facebook’s planned name change is expected to be unveiled at its annual AR conference, Facebook Connect, on Oct. 28, 2021. The magazine refers to a source with “direct knowledge” of the name change.
According to the source, Facebook plans to change the name next week to focus “on building the metaverse.”
However, the name change is said to have no impact on the group’s social network. Rather, it’s about the parent company Facebook, which includes flagship Facebook as well as brands like WhatsApp and Instagram. This would make the Facebook network one of many products under the umbrella of the major corporation.
With the new name, which is to stand above all these brands, the group wants to show that it stands for “more than just social media and all the evils associated with it.”
The term Facebook Metaverse is not new
Back in July 2021, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spoke of a Metaverse. He said he wanted – according to the plan – to develop his group from a company perceived as a social medium to a metaverse company in the next few years.
Facebook then announced its Metaverse at the end of July 2021. Here, virtual spaces are to be created where people can shop, work or meet.
According to The Verge, however, the new name of the Facebook parent company could also have something to do with Horizon. The name is also already being used in the Facebook universe – namely in the virtual reality version of Facebook Meets, which has not yet been released.
The new name is a “closely guarded secret” “within the Facebook walls.” Even in the corporate management, not all executives are said to have knowledge of it.
Renaming is common practice
The renaming of Facebook, on the other hand, is not all that surprising. However, the step signals that the group wants to position itself more broadly in the future than just with social networks.
Google already undertook a name change in 2015. The company wanted to move away from the image of a single search engine and therefore bundled all activities in the Alphabet holding company.
