To align the brand’s name with its ambitious move towards metaverse, Social media giant Facebook Inc is likely to replace its brand name with a new name next week, the Verge reported on Tuesday, citing a source with direct information on the matter.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg may talk about changing the name of the brand at the company’s annual Connect conference scheduled for Oct. 28, but chances are there that it could be unveiled sooner, the Verge reported.
The news comes amidst the ongoing flak the company is facing for its insensitive practices and is under U.S. government scrutiny over its business practices. Lawmakers from both parties have condemned the practices of the tech giant, displaying the rising anger in Congress with Facebook.
If the name gets changed, then Facebook’s social media app would be just one of the many products under a parent company, which will also supervise its other apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more, the Verge report added.
It is common in Silicon Valley for companies to change their names before they expand their services.
Google established Alphabet Inc as a holding company in 2015 to spread its business beyond the search engines and advertising, and give a message that it is a sprawling conglomerate with companies that focus on driverless cars and health-tech as well.
Similarly, Snapchat changed its name to Snap Inc. in 2016, and in the very year, it started to call it a “camera company” and launched its first pair of Spectacles camera glasses.
Likewise, rebranding will allow Facebook to call itself a so-called metaverse company. Metaverse introduces an online world to people where they can use different devices to move and communicate in a virtual environment, the report says.
Facebook has made huge bets on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and intends to connect its 3 billion users through several devices and apps.
On Tuesday, the firm announced intentions to generate 10,000 jobs in the European Union over the next five years so that the idea of metaverse can achieve some concrete results.
Subsequently July, Zuckerberg has been promoting the metaverse, which was initially defined in a dystopian novel three decades ago and has since been cited by other internet companies such as Microsoft.