Source: Kevin Dietsch / Getty
Facebook is reportedly hoping a new name can help it shed its troubled image.
The Verge reports that Mark Zuckerberg’s company is planning on changing its name to “reflect its focus on building the metaverse,” a source close to the matter revealed to the website.
According to the website, Zuckerberg will announce the new name at Facebook’s upcoming annual Connect conference on October 28th. It could be announced sooner by Zuckerberg and indicate its focus to pitch itself as more than a social media company. The Verge further reports that change could see Facebook and its other apps, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and more, be placed under a parent company as Google did in 2015 when it reorganized under a holding company called Alphabet.
The rebrand could also serve as a way for Zuckerberg to focus on his futuristic work with AR and distance it from problematic behavior Facebook was accused of behaving in after a whistleblower exposed some disturbing company practices. The Verge says the new name is a closely guarded secret, and only a few people within the company know what it is. Some speculate that it could have something to do with “Horizon,” which is the name of the VR version of “Facebook-meets-Roblox” that has been in development for some time now.
Whatever the case is, Facebook has a lot of work to do to repair its image, especially after Frances Haugen, a former employee, leaked numerous internal documents to The Wall Street Journal proving how ain’t sh*t Facebook is.
Facebook can spin this name change however they want to, but when companies usually do it, it’s always to wipe the slate clean and distance itself from previous issues.
We see the jig Facebook.
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Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty
