Meta: Facebook changes its company name

"I've been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter. Facebook is one of the most used products in the history of the world," Zuckerberg mentioned on Thursday. "It is an iconic social media brand, but increasingly it just doesn't encompass everything that we do.

"Today we're seen as a social media company," he added, "however in our DNA, we're a company that builds know-how to attach individuals. And the metaverse is the subsequent frontier identical to social networking was once we received began."

Zuckerberg, who said he loved studying classics in school, said the name was inspired by the Greek word meta, which means "past." "For me, it symbolizes that there's all the time more to construct."

The company also replaced its corporate sign, which featured a picture of a "thumbs up," outside of its California, headquarters with one touting its new logo: a blue infinity sign.

Earlier this week, the company said that it would break out Facebook Reality Labs — its division dedicated to augmented and virtual reality services — as a separate reporting segment from its social apps. The change is set to take effect beginning in the fourth quarter.

Zuckerberg kicked off the big product event by teasing a series of new social, gaming and workplace concepts for the metaverse -- and by acknowledging the optics of focusing on such products amid renewed scrutiny of the company.

"I do know that some individuals will say that this is not a time to concentrate on the longer term, and I need to acknowledge that there are essential points to work on within the current. There all the time can be," Zuckerberg said. "So for many individuals, I'm simply unsure there ever can be an excellent time to concentrate on the longer term. But I additionally know that there are a number of you who really feel the identical method that I do."

"We dwell for what we're constructing," Zuckerberg added. "And whereas we make errors, we continue learning and constructing and shifting ahead."

Zuckerberg also announced Messenger calling is coming to VR, plans to operate a virtual marketplace where developers can sell virtual goods and a new home screen in Oculus Quest to make chatting and games in the virtual world more social.

"Your gadgets will not be the focus of your consideration anymore," he said. "We're beginning to see a number of these applied sciences coming collectively within the subsequent 5 or 10 years. Quite a lot of that is going to be mainstream and a number of us can be creating and inhabiting worlds which can be simply as detailed and convincing as this one, each day."

Various main firms have modified established manufacturers over time. Kentucky Fried Chicken shortened its name to KFC, Japanese automotive model Datsun grew to become Nissan. Some high-profile name changes have adopted scandal or controversy. Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro, modified its name to Altria, for instance, and ValuJet grew to become AirTran after certainly one of its planes crashed in 1996.

Other name changes are meant to mirror the company's broader ambitions. Snapchat rebranded as Snap in 2016 to mirror its foray into {hardware} and Google restructured the company with a brand new name, Alphabet, and plans to develop a wide range of enterprise divisions.