Landers (CNN Business) – Facebook plans to rename itself with a new name centered on metawares, The Verge website reported Tuesday. This comes as the technology company is being fired from regulators around the world for its business practices.
The company plans to announce the new name next week, The margin said, Citing a source with direct knowledge of the subject. According to a technical release, Facebook wants to be known more than social media.
Facebook did not comment on the rumors or speculation, a company spokesman said in response to a question about a possible name change.
In addition to its primary social networking site, Facebook also has Instagram and WhatsApp. The name change means that all three mega-platforms can be placed under one umbrella, similar to the framework used by Google, which is under the parent company Alphabet.
The name change will reflect the Facebook address. The metaverso Refers to efforts to integrate virtual and augmented reality technologies into a new online realm.
The idea is to create a space like the Internet in which users (via digital avatars) can walk with each other in real time. In theory, users could sit around a virtual meeting desk with distant colleagues and then walk to a virtual Starbucks to meet a friend.
Facebook announced earlier this week that it would hire 10,000 people in Europe.
A strategy amid controversy surrounding Facebook
The renaming may be part of an effort to revive Facebook’s reputation in the aftermath of a tsunami associated with misinformation on Facebook’s platforms, content moderate deficiencies and the negative impact of its products on the health and mental health of some manufacturers.
Whistleblower Francis Hogan, who worked as a product manager at Facebook, said earlier this month that the company was aware that its sites were being used to spread hate and misinformation, but did not take action to stop it. Facebook leaders have been accused of choosing profit over health, and lawmakers have compared it to big tobacco.
Facebook has vehemently denied the claims, calling many of them “misleading” and arguing that its uses do more harm than good.
The CEO of the company, Mark Zuckerberg, is scheduled to discuss the name change at Connect, the company’s annual conference, on October 28th.
A relatively small number of large companies have replaced established brands.
Kentucky Fried Chicken abbreviated its name to KFC, became the Japanese car brand Dodson Nissan, and became the World Wrestling Association World Wrestling Entertainment. Social media company Snapshot changed its name to Snapshot in 2016 to reflect its initiative in hardware.
Some high-profile name changes have come after corruption or controversy in other cases. For example, Marlboro maker Philip Morris changed its name to Altria, and in 1996 became one of the Waljet Airtons after one of its planes crashed.
Jill Dixis gave a special story.
