Facebook is rebranding and altering its company name as soon as next week. The social media behemoth is rumored to be getting a new name that reflects its goal of developing a metaverse. It could also be linked to Horizon Worlds, the company’s unreleased social virtual reality environment.
The social network, along with Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus, will most certainly keep the Facebook logo and will be part of a new parent corporation. That would be similar to what Google did in 2015 when it consolidated all of its projects and departments under Alphabet, its parent company.
According to The Verge, the name change is now a well-kept secret, with only a few senior leaders aware of it. Mark Zuckerberg has long expressed a desire to turn Facebook into a metaverse firm, and he has taken efforts in that direction.
Facebook launched a metaverse team earlier this year, and only a few days ago, it announced plans to create 10,000 “high-skilled” jobs across the European Union over the next five years to support its virtual and augmented reality experiences. Ray-Ban Stories augmented reality smart glasses were also released in September.
” We don’t comment on rumor or speculation,” Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne responded when we asked for a statement.
It’s unknown how long Facebook has planned to change its name, but it’s almost likely hoping it will serve as a diversion from the ongoing investigations and negative news.
Former executive turned whistleblower Frances Haugen handed over a trove of internal records to Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other disclosures about the corporation, accusing it of prioritizing “profit over safety,” which Zuckerberg adamantly rejected.
