What does the word meta mean? Memes galore as Facebook officially changes its name 

CEO Mark Zuckerberg introducing Meta (Image via Facebook Inc.)

On the morning of Thursday, October 28, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the awaited new name of the parent conglomerate, Meta, at the Connect developer conference.The parent company will operate Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Oculus, and other ventures.

The conference was itself a virtual and augmented reality that was meant to reflect the new way users will connect to social media platforms. In the keynote, Zuckerberg said,

“Meta is a Greek word meaning beyond.”

The name Meta appears to be short for Metaverse, which is being touted by the firm as a new interconnected 3D platform based on VR and AR.

In a press-release, the 37-year-old entrepreneur added,

“Right now our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything we’re doing today, let alone in the future. Over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards.”

Facebook’s sudden urge to rebrand comes after the company received much criticism after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents. The leaked reports to The Wall Street Journal mentioned policies, plans, and decisions that favored profits over users’ mental health. The former employee also appeared before the US Senate against Facebook.

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What is Meta (Or Metaverse) and how is it different from Facebook?

Meta would be the parent organization encompassing Facebook’s ventures. Meanwhile, Metaverse is supposedly a 3D interconnected space based on virtual reality and augmented reality which can be used by multiple users connected together.

According to a press-release written by Andrew Bosworth, VP of Facebook Reality Labs and Nick Clegg, VP of Global Affairs,

“The “metaverse” is a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.”

They also added,

“You’ll be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create and more. It’s not necessarily about spending more time online — it’s about making the time you do spend online more meaningful.”

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Will the platform be open-source?

Zuckerberg mentions in his founder’s note that,

“Privacy and safety need to be built into the metaverse from day one. So do open standards and interoperability.”

Although it is not clear whether Metaverse would be open-source, it is assumed that it might have easier access for developers than Facebook did.

Another press-release says,

“The metaverse isn’t a single product one company can build alone. Just like the internet, the metaverse exists whether Facebook is there or not.”

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Here’s how Twitteratis reacted to Facebook’s rebrand to Meta

After the social media giant changed its name to Meta, several tweets targeted co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the firm’s alleged lack of commitment towards privacy.

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Metaverse and Privacy:

A press-release mentions,

“We’ll work with experts in government, industry, and academia to think through issues and opportunities in the metaverse.”

It further adds,

“We also need to involve the human rights and civil rights communities from the start to ensure these technologies are built in a way that’s inclusive and empowering.”

The document also refers to the firm undertaking privacy issues. It mentioned how they will work to,

“Minimize the amount of data that’s used, build technology to enable privacy-protective data uses, and give people transparency and control over their data.”

However, considering Facebook’s track record of privacy issues over the years, it remains to be seen how the rebranded firm will actually implement such measures.