Facebook changes its name to Meta in major rebrand.

HIGHLIGHTS-

• Facebook on Thursday announced that it has changed its company name to Meta.

• Facebook has been rebranded to Meta.

• The rebrand, however, is for the Facebook company and not its products.

• Products like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp will continue to use their old names.

• The name change, which was announced at the Facebook Connect augmented and virtual reality conference, reflects the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media.

• The re-branding also comes after the company has dealt with a barrage of news reports over the past month stemming from whistleblower Frances Haugen’s trove of internal documents.

Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta as part of a major rebrand.

The company said it would better "encompass" what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR).

The change does not apply to its individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, only the parent company that owns them.

The word "meta" comes from the Greek word meaning "beyond".

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.

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.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name as he unveiled plans to build a "metaverse" - an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.

Zuckerberg also revealed his plans of including crypto and NFT into its platform and also ensured that the privacy and security of users will be given utmost priority.

The company also unveiled a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Thursday, replacing its thumbs-up "Like" logo with a blue infinity shape.

Mr Zuckerberg said the new name reflects that over time, users will not need to use Facebook to use the company's other services.

The demo was a Pixar-like animation of software the company hopes to build some day. The demo included users hanging out in space as cartoon-like versions of themselves or fantastical characters, like a robot, that represent their virtual selves.

Zuckerberg used part of it to accuse other tech firms of stifling innovation with high developer fees.

Instead of being on a computer, people in a metaverse might use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments.

It is hoped the virtual world could be used for practically anything from work, play and concerts, to socializing with friends and family.