Facebook rebrands as Meta to emphasise 'metaverse' vision

Oakland (US): Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta in an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future what Zuckerberg calls the metaverse.

Zuckerberg says he expects the metaverse to reach a billion people within the next decade. It will be a place people will be able to interact, work and create products and content in what he hopes will be a new ecosystem that creates millions of jobs for creators.

The announcement comes amid an existential crisis for Facebook. It faces heightened legislative and regulatory scrutiny in many parts of the world following revelations in the Facebook Papers. In explaining the rebrand, Zuckerberg said the name Facebook just doesn't encompass everything the company does anymore.

In addition to its primary social network, that now includes Instagram, Messenger, its Quest VR headset, its Horizon VR platform and more.

Today we are seen as a social media company, Zuckerberg said. But in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people.

Facebook, the app, along with Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, are here to stay; the company's corporate structure also won't change. But on Dec 1, its shares will start trading under a new ticker symbol, MVRS. Metaverse, he said, is a new way. Zuckerberg, who is a fan of classics, explained that the word meta comes from the Greek word beyond.