Oliver Haslam on October 20, 2021, 9:50 pm

Facebook Will Reportedly Change Its Name By Next Week As It Focuses On Metaverse

Facebook will reportedly change its name, with the company more keen to choose a title that more reflects the new focus CEO Mark Zuckerberg is putting on the metaverse.

According to the report by The Verge, the change will be spoken about during Facebook’s annual Connect conference on October 28.

The coming name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk about at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th, but could unveil sooner, is meant to signal the tech giant’s ambition to be known for more than social media and all the ills that entail. The rebrand would likely position the blue Facebook app as one of many products under a parent company overseeing groups like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and more. A spokesperson for Facebook declined to comment for this story.

As for what the name will be, The Verge notes that not even everyone on Facebook’s own leadership team knows what is going on — although some reference to the metaverse is expected.

I’m told that the new Facebook company name is a closely-guarded secret within its walls and not known widely, even among its full senior leadership. A possible name could have something to do with Horizon, the name of the still-unreleased VR version of Facebook-meets-Roblox that the company has been developing for the past few years.

There’s no doubt that the timing also seems coincidental — Facebook is in the middle of a PR nightmare related to the way it impacts people and their mental health — particularly young girls. A switch of name could theoretically help there, although we have to assume it will take more than a name change to convince people that Facebook isn’t Facebook anymore.