Meta Change: From Facebook First to Metaverse First, Zuckerberg Says

Zuckerberg said the move is meant to emphasize the fact that the company is focused on building products for the metaverse of the future. “From now on, we’re going to be the Metaverse first, not Facebook first,” Zuckerberg said. “This means that over time you will no longer need to use Facebook to use our other services. And as our new brand begins to appear in our products, I hope that people will be able to use the meta brand and the future. Learn about what we stand for.”

The metaverse is a concept in computing that dates back to the 1960s and earlier. It is a future where people will be able to create virtual avatars, interact in virtual spaces, and even commerce and transact within virtual spaces. Facebook kicked off the Connect conference by speaking about its plans for the Metaverse for more than an hour.

The company isn’t the first major tech firm to be rebranded as part of a new approach to computing. Like Google and Facebook, Apple dropped ‘computer’ from its name in 2007, and Starbucks dropped ‘coffee’ from its name in 2011. Google switched to Alphabet in 2015, indicating the company’s desire to expand beyond Internet search and advertising. Google was once known as Backrub. Instagram started out as Bourbon, and Twitter followed along as ‘Twitter’ before the ‘E’ made it a household name.

Facebook also unveiled new augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) tools the company is building to power the metaverse of the future. The company said it would invite developers and creators to join the journey, and use these products to build applications for the Metaverse. The company also showed off early demos of people holding virtual meetings via avatars, working out using VR headsets and more.

In the coming year, Facebook will unveil a new app, codenamed Polar. The app is for iOS devices and will allow users to add AR filters and effects to photos directly from their iPhone. The company is also working on ways to allow Geofence AR applications, which allow developers to create AR effects specific to real-world locations, such as concerts or coffee shops.

“For us, it’s a story that started in the dorm room, and progressed beyond anything we could ever imagine,” Zuckerberg said. The company plans to spend billions on building the Metaverse in the coming years. “We have created things that have brought people together in new ways. We have learned a lot from battling social issues and living under closed forums, and now is the time to take what we have learned and take Help build the next chapter. I’m dedicating our energy to it more than any other company in the world.”