January 1, Zuckerberg rebrands Facebook Inc. as Meta amid ongoing scandal

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company is rebranding itself as Meta. The move comes amid the release of the Facebook Papers, a leaked stash of documents that reveal how Facebook ignored or diminished internal warnings of negative consequences from its algorithm.

Marketing consultant Laura Ries said Facebook changing its name to Meta is like when BP rebranded to “Beyond Petroleum” amid the company’s environmental debacles. “Facebook is the world’s social media platform and they are being accused of creating something that is harmful to people and society,” Ries said.

“They can’t walk away from the social network with a new corporate name and talk of a future metaverse,” she added.

Zuckerberg said his company’s new name encompasses its virtual-reality vision for the future or the “metaverse,” which he described as a “virtual environment” you can walk around in using virtual reality headsets, glasses, or smartphone apps.

The apps Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, will remain the same, with no name changes. On Dec. 1, Facebook Inc. stocks will start trading under the ticker “MVRS.”

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Facebook Inc. rebrands as Meta to stress ‘metaverse’ plan