The New Face of Facebook and the Digital Era

As news of the corporate rebranding of Facebook emerged, social media users didn’t hold back their reactions to the new name, “Meta,” short for metaverse. “So…Ready Player One? Got It,” wrote one user, while another asked, “So changing {the} name {and} rebranding makes it all better and go away?” The change comes amid a chaotic time for the social media giant following controversies it faced with how the platform helped to spread misinformation and hate speech, according to the New York Times. Chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg hopes the move will help folks see the new phase in digital called the metaverse.

So what exactly is the metaverse? In a piece by the New York Times, it’s referred to as the “fully realized digital world that exists beyond the analog one in which we live in.” So looking back to the first social media response we mentioned, yeah pretty much “Ready Player One.” However, Zuckerberg’s vision may not include finding an Easter Egg to give us fortune or control of the world. He does describe the areas where the metaverse would be useful, including video gaming, fitness and work. “Zuckerberg has described it as a “virtual environment” you can go inside of — instead of just looking at on a screen. Essentially, it’s a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities where people can meet, work and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices,” wrote the Associated Press.

Does this mean we will need to download the new Meta app and fear losing all of our photos on the former Facebook platform? The short answer, no.  Facebook will still keep its name, but will be shifting into a new identity. “It is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do,” he said in a virtual conference. “From now on we’re going to be metaverse first, not Facebook first.”

 

What are your thoughts on the direction Mark Zuckerberg is taking his company? Is this the future of digital, or as Zuckerberg refers to the movement like the time smartphones replaced desktop computers? Maybe we need to take the leap to find out.

 

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