The Facebook group is giving itself a new name. The umbrella company via services such as Facebook or Instagram will in future be called Meta, as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday. With the new name, Zuckerberg wants to direct the focus to the new virtual environment “Metaverse”, in which he sees the future of digital communication – and also of his company. He also wants to use it to lead the group more strongly out of the shadow of its original and so far most important platform Facebook. In addition to Instagram, the company group also includes the WhatsApp and Messenger chat apps.
“Today we are seen as a social media company, but at heart we are a company that connects people,” said Zuckerberg. The name Facebook was no longer able to reflect the entire range of products offered by the group. In the “Metaverse”, according to the presentation of the 37-year-old Facebook founder, physical and digital worlds will come together. On the one hand, Zuckerberg relies on virtual reality (VR), in which users can immerse themselves in digital worlds with special glasses on their heads. The VR company Oculus also belongs to the Facebook group.