On October 28th, US local time, at Facebook’s annual Connect conference. CEO Mark Zuckerberg officially announced the company’s new name “Meta” and explained it.
In the future, the “Meta” brand will represent two departments in the financial report. APP (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, etc.) and Reality Labs (VR, AR).
From December 1, the Facebook stock symbol will also be changed to MVRS.
Strive to build the metaverse
Zuckerberg said that the new name “Meta” means “transcendence” in Greek.
Metaverse is a term that was put forward 29 years ago.
But in recent years, the development of artificial intelligence, virtual reality and blockchain.Gradually attracting the attention of entrepreneurs and capital.
Zuckerberg made the following explanation:
In the future, you will be able to be instantly transmitted to the office in the form of a hologram, without commuting. Or join a concert with friends in this way. You will be able to spend more time on things that are important to you, reduce travel time, and reduce your carbon footprint.
Think about how many physical properties you have today that may turn into holograms in the future. Your TV, perfect working device with multiple monitors, board games, etc. They will no longer be physical objects assembled by factories. It is a hologram designed by creators around the world.
We hope that within the next ten years, the metaverse will cover 1 billion people. Digital commerce carrying hundreds of billions of dollars. And provide employment opportunities for millions of creators and developers.
After rebranding, Facebook’s social media application will be positioned as one of many products under a parent company. The parent company will also oversee other departments such as Instagram.
Facebook has previously invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality. Including the acquisition of Oculus and other companies, this year also created a product team to study the meta verse. The company said this month that it plans to hire 10,000 employees in Europe in the next five years to build a metaverse.
Zuckerberg’s conundrum
The news of Facebook’s name change has been disclosed by an American technology media. The news had already sparked some discussion at the time, and Facebook’s efforts to embrace Metaverse were to distract people from the company’s ongoing issues.
Kirsten Martin, professor of technology ethics at the Monduzha School of Business at the University of Notre Dame, said in a statement.
“Facebook executives have not proven that their products are trustworthy in the real world. So we don’t know why we should trust them in the virtual world.”
Earlier this month, former Facebook employee and whistleblower Francis Hogan went to Congress to testify. She cited some of the company’s alleged problems, including reluctance to change the algorithm to alleviate false information.
In addition, the company is also facing pressure from regulators. As a large social media network, Facebook is being scrutinized by global legislative and regulatory authorities, including antitrust lawsuits filed by the US Federal Trade Commission.
Zuckerberg also faces pressure to carry performance. The performance report released this week shows. The company’s total revenue rose to 29.01 billion US dollars from 21.47 billion US dollars in the same period last year. But it is still below the 29.57 billion US dollars estimated by analysts.
The concept of metaverse explodes
Let’s not say whether “Meta” can finally succeed. The recent explosion of the metaverse concept is impressive.
In the October 28 transaction, Facebook closed up more than 1.5%.
Since this month, the US stock market metaverse concept stock Fastly has soared more than 20%. Roblox’s growth rate is close to 10%, and WiMi Hologram’s growth rate is close to 6%.
In China, as early as May’s annual conference of Tencent Games. The company has already proposed the metaverse super digital scene.