The Facebook parent company recently announced that they’re rebranding as Meta Platforms Inc. or simply Meta. With Facebook under fire, there are claims that this rebranding is a device to take the heat off, but there are also a few other reasons for this change. The company wants to stray away from sharing its name with the infamous social media platform, for starters. Since its beginnings, Facebook has branched out, currently owning Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and many other platforms. Due to all these subsidiaries, Facebook the app no longer encapsulates the company’s identity as a whole anymore. Looking back to 2015 we see Google made a similar move in creating a new parent company known as Alphabet Inc. The second reason for rebranding is what company CEO Mark Zuckerberg describes as a reflection of the natural evolution already occurring in the company. It’s not that Facebook is trying to change itself but is just publicly acknowledging and establishing the internal changes already taking place.
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg publicized that the tech giant will no longer be a social media company but a “metaverse company.” Sounds right out of a sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not entirely far off. So what does this metaverse even mean? And how might this influence the rest of the tech world as we know it?
Within the industry, there, unfortunately, isn’t a fully agreed-upon definition of the metaverse. According to Meta, it can be defined as a “set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.” The metaverse will blur the lines between reality and the internet even more so than it already has. Going back to sci-fi movies, the film “Ready Player One” focuses on its own concept of the metaverse known as the Oasis. The characters strap on some VR goggles and are instantly put in the virtual world of the Oasis. Simplistically the metaverse will be Web 3.0.
Though this may be the first time the public hears about this so-called ‘metaverse,’ other companies such as Microsoft and microchip company Nvidia are also trying to get in on the action. In June of this year, Gucci released a collection of virtual accessories in collaboration with Roblox, making this just the beginning.
For this to take off, tech companies have to work together instead of competing as they have always done. Not one company can take sole ownership of the metaverse, not even Meta. But when finances are involved, it’s hard for these competitors to play nice without someone taking monopoly. Virtual reality headsets will be required to participate, but it’s questionable who gets to manufacture them and who has the control.
Facebook is notorious for its business model that uses targeted ads through selling user data. Many users have expressed concern over their privacy, and rightfully so. Zuckerberg confirms ads will continue to be part of the metaverse; it’s currently unclear how. With consumers still wary of the nearly two-decade-old app, it’s not promising that they will take to the metaverse well. Meta assures that this can’t happen overnight, but these big changes will be more prominent in the next 10 to 15 years. Over two years, $50 million will be invested towards the metaverse development with the hopes it won’t be for nothing. There are still many unknowns and unanswered questions regarding the metaverse. With the public’s lack of trust in Facebook, they will need to do a lot more than rebranding.
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