Why has Facebook changed its name to Meta and what is the metaverse?

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Facebook has rebranded itself arsenic Meta successful an effort to ain the metaverse, a conception for a 3D mentation of the net that a fig of companies are moving on

Technology 29 October 2021

By Chris Stokel-Walker

Prepare for plentifulness of disorder successful the coming months, due to the fact that Facebook – whose products are utilized by much than 3 cardinal radical worldwide – has decided to rebrand itself. Here’s everything you request to know.

What has happened?

After plentifulness of speculation, Facebook, the institution that owns platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, rebranded arsenic Meta connected 28 October. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told attendees astatine the company’s yearly Connect conference: “Right now, our marque is truthful tightly linked to 1 merchandise that it can’t perchance correspond everything that we’re doing today, fto unsocial successful the future. Over time, I anticipation that we are seen arsenic a metaverse company, and I privation to anchor our enactment and individuality connected what we’re gathering toward.”

It is important to enactment that Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram volition each beryllium keeping their names. But the institution that produces and maintains them volition present beryllium called Meta – akin to Google’s 2015 firm restructuring into a genitor institution called Alphabet. Facebook (the company) adjacent changed the logo extracurricular its building connected 28 October.

Sorry, what is simply a metaverse?

The sanction was chosen to echo the cardinal merchandise that Zuckerberg hopes Facebook – present Meta – volition beryllium represented by: the metaverse, the sanction for a shared online 3D virtual abstraction that a fig of companies are funny successful creating arsenic a benignant of aboriginal mentation of the internet.

“In this future, you volition beryllium capable to teleport instantly arsenic a hologram to beryllium astatine the bureau without a commute, astatine a performance with friends, oregon successful your parents’ surviving country to drawback up,” Zuckerberg wrote successful a letter announcing Facebook’s rebranding arsenic Meta.

But it is successful the future. Not now. The metaverse unveiled by the institution successful August looks similar The Sims oregon another, older immersive world: the 2003 video crippled Second Life.

Why is Zuckerberg doing this?

For 1 thing, Meta doesn’t privation to beryllium known solely arsenic a societal media platform. “My suspicion is that this is astir owning the operating strategy of the future, and Facebook’s acquisition of being an app connected different people’s – rivals’ – operating systems,” says Anupam Chander astatine Georgetown University Law Centre successful Washington, DC. “They don’t privation to beryllium captive connected different people’s platform. They privation others to beryllium captive connected their platform.”

Meta did marque oblique references to Apple successful its announcement, saying it wanted to debar a azygous institution restricting what you tin bash and charging precocious fees, but Max Van Kleek astatine the University of Oxford is sceptical that Meta itself volition wield power implicit its metaverse.

“Is Meta going to simply supply the tools alternatively than beryllium the gatekeeper? I uncertainty that they would relinquish thing that mightiness compromise their presumption arsenic the definitive advertisement supplier of the metaverse, for instance,” says Van Kleek.

Doesn’t Facebook – sorry, Meta – person bigger things to interest about?

There has been a dependable drip of antagonistic stories pursuing the merchandise of the Facebook Papers, interior documents highlighting issues with the company, secreted retired of the steadfast by whistleblower Frances Haugen. Some person seen the caller sanction arsenic a mode to distract from this narrative.

“All the atrocious property and governmental battles it is presently warring person to bash with its societal networking products, truthful launching thing wholly caller – successful their minds – is simply a mode to wholly rebrand and commencement fresh, without changing overmuch with the existing problematic products,” says Taina Bucher astatine the University of Oslo, Norway, and writer of the publication Facebook.

Chander sees it arsenic an effort to overlook, alternatively than overwrite, the issues raised by the Facebook Papers. “I deliberation this is Facebook trying to unreal that determination aren’t beardown headwinds, and carrying connected arsenic if those headwinds didn’t exist,” helium says.

What happens if Meta succeeds?

One contented with Meta trying to beryllium the sole institution underpinning the metaverse is the pivotal relation it would play successful our lives if its imaginativeness of the aboriginal becomes a reality. The institution has struggled with outages connected its cardinal apps that removed the quality to pass for ample parts of the satellite successful caller months – and if specified a happening were to hap successful an all-pervasive VR beingness similar the metaverse, the consequences could beryllium huge.

“The full presumption of the metaverse is truthful utopian and naive,” says Bucher. “It makes a batch of sweeping assumptions astir however radical unrecorded their lives. I’m definite not everybody would beryllium truthful thrilled astir [having it in] the location space.”

“This is yet different satellite that they privation to conquer,” says Chander. “Having conquered the Earth, they present privation to conquer the virtual metaverse.”