Facebook becomes Meta, a Social Technology Company with a mission: to create the Metaverse and bring in billions of users
As expected and anticipated by many rumors and indiscretions in recent days, Facebook has changed its name: it is now called Meta and the new name comes from "Metaverse", a world based on virtual reality, where you enter through VR visors and specific devices, such as Oculus already produced and sold by Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg, today at the center of controversy because of the so-called "Facebook Papers", in a letter to investors explained that Meta will be a "Social Technology Company" and no longer a simple social networking group, as it is today the Facebook group. Thanks to Meta, explains Zuckerberg, mon will be more important the physical location: we will be able to enter the Metaverse from anywhere there is an Internet connection and meet anyone, for work or leisure. Meta is certainly the biggest bet ever made by the (former) Facebook group since the day of its birth.
What is the Metaverse
To understand what Meta will do, you have to understand what the Metaverse is. With this term we mean a virtual space, not existing in reality, generated by computers and populated by "avatars", that is three-dimensional computerized reconstructions of the users who participate in it.
Using special visors for virtual reality, then, users will be able to "enter" places that do not exist to meet the avatars of people who do exist. All this for fun or for work, a sort of Second Life 2.0. A first idea of what the Facebook metaverse will be like can be had after reading this in-depth study: How to enter the Facebook Metaverse.
Great importance, within the Metaverse, will have the holograms: "In this future - explains Zuckerberg in the letter - you will be able to instantly teleport as a hologram to be in the office without moving, at a concert with friends or in your parents' living room. This will open up more opportunities no matter where you live. You'll be able to spend more time on what matters to you, reduce time in traffic and reduce your carbon footprint."
Content creators will play a key role: today creators do business creating videos or apps, tomorrow they can do it creating objects or services to be used within the Metaverse.
Facebook remains
It's good to point out, however, that the name change is not Facebook but the Facebook "group". Meta, in fact, is the new name of Facebook Inc., the financial holding company to which Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other companies of the group belong.
This means that, at least initially, the most used social network in the world remains and with the name of Facebook. It's clear to everyone, though, that Zuckerberg plans to use Facebook to push users into the Metaverse.