Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on 28 October 2021 announced that his company will be now known as Meta or Meta Platforms. The new platform brings together apps and technologies under one new company brand. But worry not, if you are a Facebook user this doesn’t change anything for you. The same is true for Instagram users and WhatsApp users. The websites and apps they use will continue to retain their old names.
Announcing the new name, Zuckerberg said, “Today we are seen as a social media company, 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.”
Does the new Facebook name bring changes for users?
Facebook’s name change brings a lot of questions about whether the social media app would change for the users or not. The answer is no. Facebook would remain the way it was for its users before Zuckerberg announced Meta. There will be no changes in how the app is used. No new features and layouts have been announced and the guidelines to use would remain the same. Similarly, the name change would not affect the other Facebook-owned apps including WhatsApp and Instagram. They will not have any “meta” in them.
“Our apps and their brands aren’t changing either. We’re still the company that designs technology around people,” Zuckerberg said.
Why Zuckerberg is changing Facebook’s name?
Zuckerberg didn’t want Facebook to be known as just a social media company. Facebook now wants to be known as a technology company with a lot of products and apps in its kitty. In his Founder’s letter, Zuckerberg says that the new platform will be even more immersive. Users will be able to do almost anything they can imagine. He said that people can get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create on the meta platform.
Zuckerberg also revealed his plans of including crypto and NFT into the platform and also ensured that the privacy and security of users will be given utmost priority.
“Privacy and safety need to be built into the metaverse from day one. So do open standards and interoperability. This will require not just novel technical work – like supporting crypto and NFT projects in the community – but also new forms of governance. Most of all, we need to help build ecosystems so that more people have a stake in the future and can benefit not just as consumers but as creators,” Zuckerberg said in his letter.
Well, only time will tell if Zuckerberg is going to walk his talk or not. Currently, the name of Facebook and its CEO doesn’t have a lot of social capital. There have been allegations that Facebook has put profit ahead of social harm that it potentially causes in society and there are a number of whistleblowers who have come forward alleging flaws in the way Facebook works. Government regulators across the world too are looking at the way Facebook works and have started asking questions.