Facebook has announced it will be changing its name to Meta, a name which encapsulates the company’s augmented and virtual reality vision for the future and feeds the inner geek of its employees.

Stay calm and carry on though. The Facebook social media platform and website we all know will remain Facebook. However, the holding company, which owns social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Whatsapp and other companies like VR hardware company Oculus, will be rebranded to Meta. This is similar to the rebrand that Google did with ‘Alphabet’ in 2015.

During an online event from its HQ, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg was pumped:

"We're a company that focuses on connecting people. While most other tech companies focus on how people interact with technology, we focus on building technology so people can interact with each other."

“While nothing beats being together in person, recent months have highlighted how, when that’s not possible or practical, the digital world can still help up feel connected”.

“The metaverse will help us get close to feeling that in-person presence through sharing space rather than a screen”.

The announcement is questionably timed. Facebook has been reeling from a public relations crisis following the leak of what’s been dubbed the Facebook Papers: a series of internal docs showing that leadership ignored its own internal research finding some of its products were harmful. It’s a good PR move from a company that needs to make some good PR moves.

More to come.