Facebook Changes Name to Meta

By Aly Biloon ‘25
In an effort to rebrand the company, CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, announced on Thursday, October 28, that the company is changing its name to Meta. The Metaverse is a future virtual reality social network designed to build a new type of online interaction using avatars that allow users to play games, watch movies and even attend concerts. 

Meta is now the umbrella name for the company, as Facebook still exists as a division under the name Meta. Facebook changed its name in an attempt to distance itself from social media and shift towards a new direction for the Metaverse the company plans to create.
Sophomore Talia Perlstein said, “I’m glad that Facebook finally is trying to rebrand and fix its image problem, however true change only can be achieved through a change in action.”
Facebook was founded in 2004 by Marc Zuckerberg and three of his Harvard classmates. Their intentions were to create a social platform where people could show the world who they are through a screen. Facebook is now the largest social network in the world with roughly three billion users. 
Cable News Network (CNN) reports, “Roughly three-quarters of adults believe Facebook is making American society worse, a CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with about half saying they know somebody who was persuaded to believe in a conspiracy theory because of the site's content.” 
Facebook has been receiving intense criticism after an employee leaked documents showing that the company was well aware of the problems the platform has been causing. The social media app has been used to spread propaganda to all of its users. There are some who believe that Facebook played a critical role in sharing misinformation about COVID-19 and the 2020 election results, and even had a hand in proliferating information that led to the January 6th insurrection. 
Many claim the name change is an effort to show society that the platform is leaving Facebook in the past, expanding their scope, without actually making any significant changes. For Mark Zuckerberg, this modification was extremely strategic, and is seen as a potential escape plan. 
Meta, is going to be an all encompassing virtual reality platform. According to Zuckerberg, “You’re going to be able to do almost anything you can imagine, instead of looking at a screen, you’re going to be in these experiences.” The name Meta, meaning ‘beyond’ in Greek, is both aspirational for and representative of Zuckerberg’s business philosophy. Zuckerberg says, "For me, it symbolizes that there is always more to build." 
Since Facebook is still receiving backlash from the leaked documents, Zuckerberg dives into further detail while discussing the privacy settings on Meta. He believes that privacy and safety is of critical importance to his users and society at large. Zuckerberg said on 60 Minutes that these settings will be implemented from day one, "You will get to decide when you want to be with other people, when you want to block someone from appearing in your space or when you want to take a break and teleport to a private place to be alone." 
Changing the name to Meta does not only help Zuckerberg’s efforts to minimize allegations made against Facebook, it also is going to be helpful in the future and here is why. As a platform, getting ahead on the next big technological advancement is crucial to draw the  younger generation’s attention towards your platform. Although the company is ranked number one in the world, the average age range of Facebook users is 25 years old and older. Zuckerberg hopes to change that, as the Metaverse becomes Facebook’s new face. In years to come, Zuckerberg hopes Meta will be the new social media app all kids desire to be a part of. 
Zuckerberg shared further details about why the company felt it was right to change its name and the benefit for the future, "Today we're seen as a social media company," he added, "but in our DNA, we are a company that builds technology to connect people. And the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started," Zuckerberg stated on CNN. 
Regardless of its name, users know Facebook and Meta will continue to influence the way our global society connects people with one another through technology.