by AllYourVideogames News | Oct 20, 2022 | News |
Does Facebook plan to change its name? Under the watchful eyes of regulators around the world, Facebook is planning to rename itself with a new group name that focuses on the metaverse, The Verge reported on Tuesday. The name change will be announced next week, according to The Verge, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been talking about the metaverse, a digital world where people can move between different devices and communicate in a virtual environment, since July, and the group has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality, developing hardware like the Oculus VR Headsets and working on AR glasses and wristband technologies.
Does Facebook plan to change its name?
The move would likely position the flagship app as one of many products from a parent company that oversees brands like Instagram and WhatsApp, according to the report. Another technology company has already adopted a change in this regard. In 2022, Google created Alphabet, a holding company that concentrates all the companies in the group.
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Facebook said it does not comment on "rumor or speculation". If true, the rebrand would make sense, as Facebook's core business becomes less important to the group and seeks to refresh an image tarnished by regulatory and legal scrutiny of how it handles user safety and hate speech, they said. analysts.
“This reflects the expansion of Facebook's business. And secondly, I think Facebook's brand is probably not the biggest, given all the events of the last three years or so," Atlantic Equities internet analyst James Cordwell told Reuters.
Facebook has come under extensive scrutiny from global lawmakers and regulators over its content moderation practices and harms linked to its platforms, with internal documents leaked by a source that would give the possibility for a hearing.
“Having a different core brand will prevent that negative association from being transferred to a new brand, or other brands that are in the portfolio,” Shankha Basu, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Leeds, said in an interview with Reuters.
Last month, Facebook named Andrew Bosworth, who heads the social media company's augmented reality and virtual reality efforts, including products like the Oculus Quest VR headset, as chief technology officer.
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The term Metaverse has been used for at least 3 decades. It is widely used in Silicon Valley and has been used by other technology companies as well. One of the examples is the game Roblox, which is referred to as a company in this format. Epic Games with Fortnite is also considered part of the metaverse. Zuckerberg plans to talk about the name change at the company's annual Connect conference on Oct. 28, but it could be revealed sooner, the Verge said.
The fact is that if the change takes place along the same lines as the one promoted by Google, nothing changes for the user. It would just be a change in the company's public relations and certainly the Facebook name or other company products would be used less. Which, in a way, could help minimize the negative view of brands and direct problems to something less specific. This already happens with Alphabet, when there are scandals or problems involving their products, the negative media is directed towards the “main brand”.
Let's follow up and see if the rumors are confirmed.
Source: Reuters
