🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa120)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html","crawl_time":1772736864,"first_indexed_time":1635474121,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Facebook Changes Corporate Name to Meta - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["The social network, under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues, said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nThe social network, under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues, said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse.\nMark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has been committed to building the “metaverse,” a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse.\nCredit...\nEric Risberg\/Associated Press\nPublished Oct. 28, 2021\nUpdated Nov. 10, 2021\nSAN FRANCISCO — Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F.\nNo longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasizing Facebook’s name and\nrebranding itself as Meta\n. The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain but under the Meta umbrella.\nThe move punctuates how\nMark Zuckerberg\n, the chief executive, plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the\nmetaverse\n. At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to\nspread hate speech and misinformation.\n“I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, Mr. Zuckerberg said, speaking at a virtual event on Thursday to showcase Facebook’s technological bets on the future. “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.”\nWith the change, Mr. Zuckerberg telegraphed that his company was going beyond today’s social networking, which Facebook has been built on since it was founded 17 years ago. Having Facebook as the corporate name when the company now owned many apps and was fundamentally about connecting people was no longer tenable, he said.\nThat was especially the case, Mr. Zuckerberg said, as Facebook has committed to building a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. He has said that this concept, known as the metaverse, can be the next major social platform and that several tech companies will build it over the next 10-plus years. On Monday, Facebook had signaled its intent to be a big player when it separated its virtual reality and augmented reality business into a division known as\nFacebook Reality Labs\n.\nImage\nThe company’s new logo was unveiled on Thursday at its headquarters.\nCredit...\nJustin Sullivan\/Getty Images\nBut evolving Facebook into a metaverse company will take time since the concept is theoretical and may take years to achieve. Facebook and its sister apps also remain a giant business, generating more than $86 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 3.5 billion people globally.\nThe timing of the name change has a double advantage. Facebook has grappled with some of the\nmost intense scrutiny\nin its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for hurting some teenagers’ self-esteem and the company has faced questions for its role in amplifying misinformation and stirring unrest with inflammatory content.\nThe outcry reached a fever pitch after\nFrances Haugen\n, a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents that showed how much the company knew about the harmful effects it was causing. Findings from Ms. Haugen’s documents were first published by The Wall Street Journal and then other media organizations, including The New York Times.\nThe revelations have led to a slew of congressional hearings, as well as legal and regulatory scrutiny. On Monday, Ms. Haugen\nspoke to British lawmakers\nin Parliament and urged them to regulate Facebook. On Tuesday,\nFacebook told its employees\nto “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies had started inquiries into its operations.\nCorporate rebrands are rare but have precedent. They have generally been used to signal a company’s structural reorganization or to distance a company from a toxic reputation.\nIn 2015,\nGoogle restructured itself\nunder a new parent company, Alphabet, dividing itself into separate companies to better differentiate its internet search business from the moonshot bets it was making in other areas. In 2011, Netflix announced plans to\ncleave its video business into two parts\n, briefly renaming its DVD-by-mail arm as Qwikster.\nAfter\nThe Verge\nreported last week that Facebook might change its name, social media erupted with less desirable comparisons. Some recalled how Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, rebranded itself to Altria Group in 2001 after years of reputational damage\nover the health costs\nand effects of cigarettes on the American public.\nNicholas Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global policy and communications, has rejected the comparisons, calling them “extremely misleading.”\nFacebook’s name change is largely cosmetic. It will begin trading under the stock ticker MVRS beginning on Dec. 1. The company will also rebrand some of its virtual-reality products as Meta, shifting away from the original brand name of Oculus.\nThe company was not restructured and no executive changes were announced. Mr. Zuckerberg also remains chief executive and chairman. He holds majority voting power over any changes that could affect the future of the company.\n“No matter what Mark Zuckerberg calls it, it will remain Zuckerberg Inc. until he relinquishes some power and yields to functional corporate governance,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media researcher at Syracuse University.\nFor months, Facebook has been building up to the metaverse announcement. Last year, it released its newest virtual-reality headsets, the\nOculus Quest 2\n. In August, it unveiled virtual-reality service called\nHorizon Workrooms\n, a virtual meeting room where people using the virtual-reality headsets can gather as if they were at an in-person work meeting. And in September, it announced\na new line of eyewear\nwith Ray-Ban, which can record videos.\nThose products are all pieces of the metaverse, which Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged on Thursday sounded like “science fiction.”\nAndrew Bosworth, Facebook’s chief technology officer, has also said the metaverse will need significant technological breakthroughs to happen and that the company was working on new versions of virtual reality and augmented reality hardware to make them smaller, less expensive and more immersive.\nImage\nIn a demonstration, Mark Zuckerberg showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.\nCredit...\nMeta\nEven so, Mr. Zuckerberg on Thursday talked up the idea as “the successor to the mobile internet” and said mobile devices would no longer be the focal points. The building blocks for the metaverse were also already available, he said. In a demonstration, he showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.\n“You’re really going to feel like you’re there with other people,” he said. “You’re not going to be locked into one world or platform.”\nWhat have the C.E.O. of Reddit and a drag queen learned about building robust communities online? Join them and other special guests at our virtual event to find out.\nMr. Zuckerberg said creating the metaverse would take work across different technology companies, new forms of governance and other elements that would not come in the short term. But he laid out several areas where the metaverse would be applicable, citing video gaming, fitness and work.\nMr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office. He talked up several immersive video games. And he demonstrated Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality-based social network, where friends and family could come together and interact.\nImage\nMr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office.\nCredit...\nMeta\nSuccess will depend partly on attracting others to create new apps and programs that work in the metaverse. As with the mobile app economy, users are more likely to join new computing ecosystems if there are programs and software for them to use.\nAs a result, Mr. Zuckerberg said he would continue offering low-cost or free services to developers and invest in attracting more developers through creator funds and other capital injections. Among other things, Facebook has earmarked $150 million for developers who create new kinds of immersive learning apps and programs.\n“We are fully committed to this,” he said. “It is the next chapter of our work.”\nA correction was made on\nOct. 28, 2021\n: \nAn earlier version of this article misstated the division of Netflix that the company briefly renamed Qwikster in 2011. It was the DVD-by-mail arm, not the streaming unit.\nMike Isaac\nis a technology correspondent and the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, a NYT best-selling book on the dramatic rise and fall of the ride-hailing company. He regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley, and is based in The Times's San Francisco bureau.\nA version of this article appears in print on\nOct. 29, 2021\n, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Is Meta Really Betta?\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in Technology\nPhoto Illustration by Mel Haasch; Grace Cary\/Getty Images\nHaiyun Jiang\/The New York Times\nJordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times\nEditors’ Picks\nImage by Eric Striffler for The New York Times\nGetty Images\nTrending in The Times\nSisi Yu\nIllustration by Eleanor Davis\nKarsten Moran for The New York Times\nSebastian Siadecki for The New York Times\nKaoly Gutierrez for The New York Times\nAmanda Shae Home Team Realty Group\nDisney\/Pixar\nHiba Kola\/Reuters\nDiego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times\nPaul Ellis\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[Technology](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2021%252F10%252F28%252Ftechnology%252Ffacebook-meta-name-change.html&asset=masthead)\n\nThursday, March 5, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\n[Technology](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\\|Facebook Renames Itself Meta\n\nhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html\n\n- Share full article\n- 726\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-top)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-sponsor)\n# Facebook Renames Itself Meta\nThe social network, under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues, said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse.\n\n- Share full article\n- 726\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/28\/us\/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub\/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub--articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nMark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has been committed to building the “metaverse,” a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse.Credit...Eric Risberg\/Associated Press\n\n[![Mike Isaac](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2018\/02\/16\/multimedia\/author-mike-isaac\/author-mike-isaac-thumbLarge-v3.png)](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/mike-isaac)\n\nBy [Mike Isaac](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/mike-isaac)\n\nPublished Oct. 28, 2021Updated Nov. 10, 2021\n\nSAN FRANCISCO — Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F.\n\nNo longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasizing Facebook’s name and [rebranding itself as Meta](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/11\/10\/technology\/facebook-meta-new-logo.html). The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain but under the Meta umbrella.\n\nThe move punctuates how [Mark Zuckerberg](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/29\/style\/mark-zuckerberg-meta-jokes.html), the chief executive, plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the [metaverse](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/10\/style\/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html). At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to [spread hate speech and misinformation.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/22\/technology\/facebook-election-misinformation.html)\n\n“I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, Mr. Zuckerberg said, speaking at a virtual event on Thursday to showcase Facebook’s technological bets on the future. “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.”\n\nWith the change, Mr. Zuckerberg telegraphed that his company was going beyond today’s social networking, which Facebook has been built on since it was founded 17 years ago. Having Facebook as the corporate name when the company now owned many apps and was fundamentally about connecting people was no longer tenable, he said.\n\nThat was especially the case, Mr. Zuckerberg said, as Facebook has committed to building a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. He has said that this concept, known as the metaverse, can be the next major social platform and that several tech companies will build it over the next 10-plus years. On Monday, Facebook had signaled its intent to be a big player when it separated its virtual reality and augmented reality business into a division known as [Facebook Reality Labs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/technology\/facebook-profits-earnings-q3-2021.html).\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/28\/business\/28facebook-park\/28facebook-park-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nThe company’s new logo was unveiled on Thursday at its headquarters.Credit...Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images\n\nBut evolving Facebook into a metaverse company will take time since the concept is theoretical and may take years to achieve. Facebook and its sister apps also remain a giant business, generating more than \\$86 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 3.5 billion people globally.\n\nThe timing of the name change has a double advantage. Facebook has grappled with some of the [most intense scrutiny](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/business\/facebook-papers-takeaways.html) in its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for hurting some teenagers’ self-esteem and the company has faced questions for its role in amplifying misinformation and stirring unrest with inflammatory content.\n\nThe outcry reached a fever pitch after [Frances Haugen](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/03\/technology\/whistle-blower-facebook-frances-haugen.html), a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents that showed how much the company knew about the harmful effects it was causing. Findings from Ms. Haugen’s documents were first published by The Wall Street Journal and then other media organizations, including The New York Times.\n\nThe revelations have led to a slew of congressional hearings, as well as legal and regulatory scrutiny. On Monday, Ms. Haugen [spoke to British lawmakers](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/business\/frances-haugen-facebook.html) in Parliament and urged them to regulate Facebook. On Tuesday, [Facebook told its employees](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/27\/technology\/facebook-legal-communications.html) to “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies had started inquiries into its operations.\n\nCorporate rebrands are rare but have precedent. They have generally been used to signal a company’s structural reorganization or to distance a company from a toxic reputation.\n\nIn 2015, [Google restructured itself](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/08\/11\/technology\/google-alphabet-restructuring.html) under a new parent company, Alphabet, dividing itself into separate companies to better differentiate its internet search business from the moonshot bets it was making in other areas. In 2011, Netflix announced plans to [cleave its video business into two parts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/10\/25\/technology\/netflix-lost-800000-members-with-price-rise-and-split-plan.html), briefly renaming its DVD-by-mail arm as Qwikster.\n\nAfter [The Verge](https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/10\/19\/22735612\/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse) reported last week that Facebook might change its name, social media erupted with less desirable comparisons. Some recalled how Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, rebranded itself to Altria Group in 2001 after years of reputational damage [over the health costs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1998\/11\/14\/us\/cigarette-makers-and-states-draft-a-206-billion-deal.html) and effects of cigarettes on the American public.\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02TBRTrethewey-Review-qzlp\/02TBRTrethewey-Review-qzlp-thumbLarge.jpg)Her Daughters Got the Press. Until Now.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/03\/books\/review\/muv-rachel-trethewey.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/12visualUploader-56768-cover\/12visualUploader-56768-cover-thumbLarge.jpg)40 Years and 10,000 Broadcasts In, They’re Still Live on Air](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/business\/media\/anchors-rick-ardon-susannah-carr-perth-australia.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/06\/20\/fashion\/socialqs-2021-artwork\/socialqs-2021-artwork-thumbLarge-v2.jpg)My Boss Didn’t Care That My Mother Was Dying. Help\\!](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/04\/style\/bereavement-grief-boss-unsympathetic.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\nNicholas Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global policy and communications, has rejected the comparisons, calling them “extremely misleading.”\n\nFacebook’s name change is largely cosmetic. It will begin trading under the stock ticker MVRS beginning on Dec. 1. The company will also rebrand some of its virtual-reality products as Meta, shifting away from the original brand name of Oculus.\n\nThe company was not restructured and no executive changes were announced. Mr. Zuckerberg also remains chief executive and chairman. He holds majority voting power over any changes that could affect the future of the company.\n\n“No matter what Mark Zuckerberg calls it, it will remain Zuckerberg Inc. until he relinquishes some power and yields to functional corporate governance,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media researcher at Syracuse University.\n\nFor months, Facebook has been building up to the metaverse announcement. Last year, it released its newest virtual-reality headsets, the [Oculus Quest 2](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/09\/16\/technology\/personaltech\/facebook-oculus-quest-2-review-vr-headset-games.html). In August, it unveiled virtual-reality service called [Horizon Workrooms](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/08\/19\/technology\/facebooks-new-bet-on-virtual-reality-conference-rooms.html), a virtual meeting room where people using the virtual-reality headsets can gather as if they were at an in-person work meeting. And in September, it announced [a new line of eyewear](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/09\/technology\/facebook-wayfarer-stories-smart-glasses.html) with Ray-Ban, which can record videos.\n\nThose products are all pieces of the metaverse, which Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged on Thursday sounded like “science fiction.”\n\nAndrew Bosworth, Facebook’s chief technology officer, has also said the metaverse will need significant technological breakthroughs to happen and that the company was working on new versions of virtual reality and augmented reality hardware to make them smaller, less expensive and more immersive.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/29\/business\/29facebook-handouts-print\/28facebook-handouts-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nIn a demonstration, Mark Zuckerberg showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.Credit...Meta\n\nEven so, Mr. Zuckerberg on Thursday talked up the idea as “the successor to the mobile internet” and said mobile devices would no longer be the focal points. The building blocks for the metaverse were also already available, he said. In a demonstration, he showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.\n\n“You’re really going to feel like you’re there with other people,” he said. “You’re not going to be locked into one world or platform.”\n\nSubscriber-only Live Event\n\n### Can We Find Real Community Online?\nThursday, November 18\n\n5 p.m. E.T. \\| 2 p.m. P.T.\n\nWhat have the C.E.O. of Reddit and a drag queen learned about building robust communities online? Join them and other special guests at our virtual event to find out.\n\nMr. Zuckerberg said creating the metaverse would take work across different technology companies, new forms of governance and other elements that would not come in the short term. But he laid out several areas where the metaverse would be applicable, citing video gaming, fitness and work.\n\nMr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office. He talked up several immersive video games. And he demonstrated Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality-based social network, where friends and family could come together and interact.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/28\/business\/28facebook-handouts\/28facebook-handouts-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nMr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office.Credit...Meta\n\nSuccess will depend partly on attracting others to create new apps and programs that work in the metaverse. As with the mobile app economy, users are more likely to join new computing ecosystems if there are programs and software for them to use.\n\nAs a result, Mr. Zuckerberg said he would continue offering low-cost or free services to developers and invest in attracting more developers through creator funds and other capital injections. Among other things, Facebook has earmarked \\$150 million for developers who create new kinds of immersive learning apps and programs.\n\n“We are fully committed to this,” he said. “It is the next chapter of our work.”\n\nThe Metaverse\n\n[![]()Facebook Wrestles With the Features It Used to Define Social Networking Oct. 25, 2021](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/technology\/facebook-like-share-buttons.html)\n\n[![]()Facebook’s New Bet on Virtual Reality: Conference Rooms Aug. 19, 2021](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/08\/19\/technology\/facebooks-new-bet-on-virtual-reality-conference-rooms.html)\n\n[![]()Are We in the Metaverse Yet? July 10, 2021](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/10\/style\/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html)\n\n**A correction was made on**\n\nOct. 28, 2021\n\n:\n\nAn earlier version of this article misstated the division of Netflix that the company briefly renamed Qwikster in 2011. It was the DVD-by-mail arm, not the streaming unit.\n\n***\nWhen we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at [corrections@nytimes.com](mailto:corrections@nytimes.com).[Learn more](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/explain\/2022\/new-york-times-journalism)\n\n[Mike Isaac](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/mike-isaac) is a technology correspondent and the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, a NYT best-selling book on the dramatic rise and fall of the ride-hailing company. He regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley, and is based in The Times's San Francisco bureau.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Oct. 29, 2021, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Is Meta Really Betta?. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\nSee more on: [Facebook Inc.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/company\/facebook-inc), [Frances Haugen](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/frances-haugen), [Mark Zuckerberg](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/mark-zuckerberg)\n\nRead 726 comments\n\n- Share full article\n- 726\n\n***\n## Explore Our Business and Tech Coverage\n### Dive deeper into the people, issues and trends shaping the worlds of business and technology.\n***\n- **40 Years and 10,000 Broadcasts:** Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr [have been delivering the news together](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/business\/media\/anchors-rick-ardon-susannah-carr-perth-australia.html) in Western Australia since 1985 — a Guinness World Record.\n- **Appeal of the iPod:** It’s not exactly going analog, [but people looking to move away from streaming](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/technology\/apple-ipod-music-comeback.html) say Apple’s old device is a small step away from constantly being online.\n- **Corner Office****:** Everette Taylor took over Kickstarter at a low moment for the crowdfunding pioneer, but now he [excitedly points to the ways it has modernized its platform](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/business\/kickstarter-everette-taylor-interview-remote-four-day-workweek.html).\n- **‘Bossware’:** Popularized in 2020, the term [refers to the technology some managers use to supervise](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/business\/bossware-work-surveillance-tools.html) and surveil employees in the workplace. In recent years it’s become more sophisticated and widespread.\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in Technology](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n- [You’ve Never Seen Ants Like This Before](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/05\/science\/ants-3d-scans.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/05HS-tb-antscan-1235-cover\/05HS-tb-antscan-1235-cover-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- [Reporters Seek Comment. What Happens Next May Surprise You.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/insider\/journalism-reporting-seeking-comment.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/pageoneplus\/21insider-comment\/21insider-comment-square640.png?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Photo Illustration by Mel Haasch; Grace Cary\/Getty Images\n- [OpenAI Amends A.I. 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[Canada](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/ca\/)\n- [International](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/international\/)\n- [Help](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us)\n- [Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Advertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-top)\n\nThe social network, under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues, said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse.\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/28\/us\/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub\/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub--articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nMark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has been committed to building the “metaverse,” a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse.Credit...Eric Risberg\/Associated Press\n\nPublished Oct. 28, 2021Updated Nov. 10, 2021\n\nSAN FRANCISCO — Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F.\n\nNo longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasizing Facebook’s name and [rebranding itself as Meta](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/11\/10\/technology\/facebook-meta-new-logo.html). The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain but under the Meta umbrella.\n\nThe move punctuates how [Mark Zuckerberg](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/29\/style\/mark-zuckerberg-meta-jokes.html), the chief executive, plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the [metaverse](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/10\/style\/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html). At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to [spread hate speech and misinformation.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/22\/technology\/facebook-election-misinformation.html)\n\n“I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, Mr. Zuckerberg said, speaking at a virtual event on Thursday to showcase Facebook’s technological bets on the future. “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.”\n\nWith the change, Mr. Zuckerberg telegraphed that his company was going beyond today’s social networking, which Facebook has been built on since it was founded 17 years ago. Having Facebook as the corporate name when the company now owned many apps and was fundamentally about connecting people was no longer tenable, he said.\n\nThat was especially the case, Mr. Zuckerberg said, as Facebook has committed to building a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. He has said that this concept, known as the metaverse, can be the next major social platform and that several tech companies will build it over the next 10-plus years. On Monday, Facebook had signaled its intent to be a big player when it separated its virtual reality and augmented reality business into a division known as [Facebook Reality Labs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/technology\/facebook-profits-earnings-q3-2021.html).\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/28\/business\/28facebook-park\/28facebook-park-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nThe company’s new logo was unveiled on Thursday at its headquarters.Credit...Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images\n\nBut evolving Facebook into a metaverse company will take time since the concept is theoretical and may take years to achieve. Facebook and its sister apps also remain a giant business, generating more than \\$86 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 3.5 billion people globally.\n\nThe timing of the name change has a double advantage. Facebook has grappled with some of the [most intense scrutiny](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/business\/facebook-papers-takeaways.html) in its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for hurting some teenagers’ self-esteem and the company has faced questions for its role in amplifying misinformation and stirring unrest with inflammatory content.\n\nThe outcry reached a fever pitch after [Frances Haugen](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/03\/technology\/whistle-blower-facebook-frances-haugen.html), a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents that showed how much the company knew about the harmful effects it was causing. Findings from Ms. Haugen’s documents were first published by The Wall Street Journal and then other media organizations, including The New York Times.\n\nThe revelations have led to a slew of congressional hearings, as well as legal and regulatory scrutiny. On Monday, Ms. Haugen [spoke to British lawmakers](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/25\/business\/frances-haugen-facebook.html) in Parliament and urged them to regulate Facebook. On Tuesday, [Facebook told its employees](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/27\/technology\/facebook-legal-communications.html) to “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies had started inquiries into its operations.\n\nCorporate rebrands are rare but have precedent. They have generally been used to signal a company’s structural reorganization or to distance a company from a toxic reputation.\n\nIn 2015, [Google restructured itself](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/08\/11\/technology\/google-alphabet-restructuring.html) under a new parent company, Alphabet, dividing itself into separate companies to better differentiate its internet search business from the moonshot bets it was making in other areas. In 2011, Netflix announced plans to [cleave its video business into two parts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/10\/25\/technology\/netflix-lost-800000-members-with-price-rise-and-split-plan.html), briefly renaming its DVD-by-mail arm as Qwikster.\n\nAfter [The Verge](https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/10\/19\/22735612\/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse) reported last week that Facebook might change its name, social media erupted with less desirable comparisons. Some recalled how Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, rebranded itself to Altria Group in 2001 after years of reputational damage [over the health costs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1998\/11\/14\/us\/cigarette-makers-and-states-draft-a-206-billion-deal.html) and effects of cigarettes on the American public.\n\nNicholas Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global policy and communications, has rejected the comparisons, calling them “extremely misleading.”\n\nFacebook’s name change is largely cosmetic. It will begin trading under the stock ticker MVRS beginning on Dec. 1. The company will also rebrand some of its virtual-reality products as Meta, shifting away from the original brand name of Oculus.\n\nThe company was not restructured and no executive changes were announced. Mr. Zuckerberg also remains chief executive and chairman. He holds majority voting power over any changes that could affect the future of the company.\n\n“No matter what Mark Zuckerberg calls it, it will remain Zuckerberg Inc. until he relinquishes some power and yields to functional corporate governance,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media researcher at Syracuse University.\n\nFor months, Facebook has been building up to the metaverse announcement. Last year, it released its newest virtual-reality headsets, the [Oculus Quest 2](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/09\/16\/technology\/personaltech\/facebook-oculus-quest-2-review-vr-headset-games.html). In August, it unveiled virtual-reality service called [Horizon Workrooms](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/08\/19\/technology\/facebooks-new-bet-on-virtual-reality-conference-rooms.html), a virtual meeting room where people using the virtual-reality headsets can gather as if they were at an in-person work meeting. And in September, it announced [a new line of eyewear](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/09\/technology\/facebook-wayfarer-stories-smart-glasses.html) with Ray-Ban, which can record videos.\n\nThose products are all pieces of the metaverse, which Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged on Thursday sounded like “science fiction.”\n\nAndrew Bosworth, Facebook’s chief technology officer, has also said the metaverse will need significant technological breakthroughs to happen and that the company was working on new versions of virtual reality and augmented reality hardware to make them smaller, less expensive and more immersive.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/29\/business\/29facebook-handouts-print\/28facebook-handouts-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nIn a demonstration, Mark Zuckerberg showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.Credit...Meta\n\nEven so, Mr. Zuckerberg on Thursday talked up the idea as “the successor to the mobile internet” and said mobile devices would no longer be the focal points. The building blocks for the metaverse were also already available, he said. In a demonstration, he showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.\n\n“You’re really going to feel like you’re there with other people,” he said. “You’re not going to be locked into one world or platform.”\n\nWhat have the C.E.O. of Reddit and a drag queen learned about building robust communities online? Join them and other special guests at our virtual event to find out.\n\nMr. Zuckerberg said creating the metaverse would take work across different technology companies, new forms of governance and other elements that would not come in the short term. But he laid out several areas where the metaverse would be applicable, citing video gaming, fitness and work.\n\nMr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office. He talked up several immersive video games. And he demonstrated Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality-based social network, where friends and family could come together and interact.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/10\/28\/business\/28facebook-handouts\/28facebook-handouts-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nMr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office.Credit...Meta\n\nSuccess will depend partly on attracting others to create new apps and programs that work in the metaverse. As with the mobile app economy, users are more likely to join new computing ecosystems if there are programs and software for them to use.\n\nAs a result, Mr. Zuckerberg said he would continue offering low-cost or free services to developers and invest in attracting more developers through creator funds and other capital injections. Among other things, Facebook has earmarked \\$150 million for developers who create new kinds of immersive learning apps and programs.\n\n“We are fully committed to this,” he said. “It is the next chapter of our work.”\n\n**A correction was made on**\n\nOct. 28, 2021\n\n:\n\nAn earlier version of this article misstated the division of Netflix that the company briefly renamed Qwikster in 2011. It was the DVD-by-mail arm, not the streaming unit.\n\n[Mike Isaac](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/mike-isaac) is a technology correspondent and the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, a NYT best-selling book on the dramatic rise and fall of the ride-hailing company. He regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley, and is based in The Times's San Francisco bureau.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Oct. 29, 2021, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Is Meta Really Betta?. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in Technology](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/05HS-tb-antscan-1235-cover\/05HS-tb-antscan-1235-cover-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/pageoneplus\/21insider-comment\/21insider-comment-square640.png?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Photo Illustration by Mel Haasch; Grace Cary\/Getty Images\n- ![“It’s critical to protect the civil liberties of Americans, and there was so much focus on this, that we wanted to make this point especially clear,” OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, center, wrote on social media.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/02\/multimedia\/02biz-openai-deal-fjlc\/02biz-openai-deal-fjlc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Haiyun Jiang\/The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/00biz-musk-companies-2-02-ctpw\/00biz-musk-companies-2-02-ctpw-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/10\/10\/autossell\/10listing-billyjoel-still\/10listing-billyjoel-still-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Image by Eric Striffler for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/multimedia\/03ST-SEXUAL-MARKET-VALUE-fkct\/03ST-SEXUAL-MARKET-VALUE-fkct-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Getty Images\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/11\/business\/00techfix-smarthome\/00techfix-smarthome-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Sisi Yu\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/opinion\/grose-04\/grose-04-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Illustration by Eleanor Davis\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/24\/multimedia\/24cli-park-fires-stillpromo-bjvc\/24cli-park-fires-stillpromo-bjvc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Karsten Moran for The New York Times\n- ![“Living takes work,” Anjimile said. “Sometimes, it’s really hard but I feel like I have a base line now of ‘I’m going to be OK.’”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/multimedia\/04cul-anjimile-01-qzvh\/04cul-anjimile-01-qzvh-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Sebastian Siadecki for The New York Times\n- ![Uptake of the vaccine has been slow, like at this public health fair at The University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Greenville, S.C.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/03\/multimedia\/03nat-measles-southcarolina-01-kcqv\/03nat-measles-southcarolina-01-kcqv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Kaoly Gutierrez for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/realestate\/04re-wyg-Louisville\/04re-wyg-Louisville-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Amanda Shae Home Team Realty Group\n- ![Mabel Beaver (left, with King George) is the main character of the animated film “Hoppers.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/multimedia\/05cul-hoppers-review1-twbp\/05cul-hoppers-review1-twbp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Disney\/Pixar\n- ![Revolut said that obtaining a U.S. banking license would let it offer Americans products like its own credit cards, as it pursues global growth.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/05\/multimedia\/05db-revolut-ktfg\/05db-revolut-ktfg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Hiba Kola\/Reuters\n- ![Removing debris at a hotel after an airstrike in Baabda, Lebanon, on Thursday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/04\/02\/multimedia\/02int-iran-mideast-wtk-cbjf\/02int-iran-mideast-wtk-cbjf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times\n- ![An Iceland supermarket in Liverpool, England. The grocery chain was founded in 1970. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/03\/04\/multimedia\/00xp-iceland-wqcf\/00xp-iceland-wqcf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Paul Ellis\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/28\/technology\/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-bottom)","meta_canonical":null}

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Meta Title	Facebook Changes Corporate Name to Meta - The New York Times
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Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT The social network, under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues, said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has been committed to building the “metaverse,” a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. Credit... Eric Risberg/Associated Press Published Oct. 28, 2021 Updated Nov. 10, 2021 SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F. No longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasizing Facebook’s name and rebranding itself as Meta . The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain but under the Meta umbrella. The move punctuates how Mark Zuckerberg , the chief executive, plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the metaverse . At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to spread hate speech and misinformation. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, Mr. Zuckerberg said, speaking at a virtual event on Thursday to showcase Facebook’s technological bets on the future. “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.” With the change, Mr. Zuckerberg telegraphed that his company was going beyond today’s social networking, which Facebook has been built on since it was founded 17 years ago. Having Facebook as the corporate name when the company now owned many apps and was fundamentally about connecting people was no longer tenable, he said. That was especially the case, Mr. Zuckerberg said, as Facebook has committed to building a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. He has said that this concept, known as the metaverse, can be the next major social platform and that several tech companies will build it over the next 10-plus years. On Monday, Facebook had signaled its intent to be a big player when it separated its virtual reality and augmented reality business into a division known as Facebook Reality Labs . Image The company’s new logo was unveiled on Thursday at its headquarters. Credit... Justin Sullivan/Getty Images But evolving Facebook into a metaverse company will take time since the concept is theoretical and may take years to achieve. Facebook and its sister apps also remain a giant business, generating more than $86 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 3.5 billion people globally. The timing of the name change has a double advantage. Facebook has grappled with some of the most intense scrutiny in its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for hurting some teenagers’ self-esteem and the company has faced questions for its role in amplifying misinformation and stirring unrest with inflammatory content. The outcry reached a fever pitch after Frances Haugen , a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents that showed how much the company knew about the harmful effects it was causing. Findings from Ms. Haugen’s documents were first published by The Wall Street Journal and then other media organizations, including The New York Times. The revelations have led to a slew of congressional hearings, as well as legal and regulatory scrutiny. On Monday, Ms. Haugen spoke to British lawmakers in Parliament and urged them to regulate Facebook. On Tuesday, Facebook told its employees to “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies had started inquiries into its operations. Corporate rebrands are rare but have precedent. They have generally been used to signal a company’s structural reorganization or to distance a company from a toxic reputation. In 2015, Google restructured itself under a new parent company, Alphabet, dividing itself into separate companies to better differentiate its internet search business from the moonshot bets it was making in other areas. In 2011, Netflix announced plans to cleave its video business into two parts , briefly renaming its DVD-by-mail arm as Qwikster. After The Verge reported last week that Facebook might change its name, social media erupted with less desirable comparisons. Some recalled how Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, rebranded itself to Altria Group in 2001 after years of reputational damage over the health costs and effects of cigarettes on the American public. Nicholas Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global policy and communications, has rejected the comparisons, calling them “extremely misleading.” Facebook’s name change is largely cosmetic. It will begin trading under the stock ticker MVRS beginning on Dec. 1. The company will also rebrand some of its virtual-reality products as Meta, shifting away from the original brand name of Oculus. The company was not restructured and no executive changes were announced. Mr. Zuckerberg also remains chief executive and chairman. He holds majority voting power over any changes that could affect the future of the company. “No matter what Mark Zuckerberg calls it, it will remain Zuckerberg Inc. until he relinquishes some power and yields to functional corporate governance,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media researcher at Syracuse University. For months, Facebook has been building up to the metaverse announcement. Last year, it released its newest virtual-reality headsets, the Oculus Quest 2 . In August, it unveiled virtual-reality service called Horizon Workrooms , a virtual meeting room where people using the virtual-reality headsets can gather as if they were at an in-person work meeting. And in September, it announced a new line of eyewear with Ray-Ban, which can record videos. Those products are all pieces of the metaverse, which Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged on Thursday sounded like “science fiction.” Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s chief technology officer, has also said the metaverse will need significant technological breakthroughs to happen and that the company was working on new versions of virtual reality and augmented reality hardware to make them smaller, less expensive and more immersive. Image In a demonstration, Mark Zuckerberg showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet. Credit... Meta Even so, Mr. Zuckerberg on Thursday talked up the idea as “the successor to the mobile internet” and said mobile devices would no longer be the focal points. The building blocks for the metaverse were also already available, he said. In a demonstration, he showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet. “You’re really going to feel like you’re there with other people,” he said. “You’re not going to be locked into one world or platform.” What have the C.E.O. of Reddit and a drag queen learned about building robust communities online? Join them and other special guests at our virtual event to find out. Mr. Zuckerberg said creating the metaverse would take work across different technology companies, new forms of governance and other elements that would not come in the short term. But he laid out several areas where the metaverse would be applicable, citing video gaming, fitness and work. Mr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office. He talked up several immersive video games. And he demonstrated Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality-based social network, where friends and family could come together and interact. Image Mr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office. Credit... Meta Success will depend partly on attracting others to create new apps and programs that work in the metaverse. As with the mobile app economy, users are more likely to join new computing ecosystems if there are programs and software for them to use. As a result, Mr. Zuckerberg said he would continue offering low-cost or free services to developers and invest in attracting more developers through creator funds and other capital injections. Among other things, Facebook has earmarked $150 million for developers who create new kinds of immersive learning apps and programs. “We are fully committed to this,” he said. “It is the next chapter of our work.” A correction was made on Oct. 28, 2021 : An earlier version of this article misstated the division of Netflix that the company briefly renamed Qwikster in 2011. It was the DVD-by-mail arm, not the streaming unit. Mike Isaac is a technology correspondent and the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, a NYT best-selling book on the dramatic rise and fall of the ride-hailing company. He regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley, and is based in The Times's San Francisco bureau. A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 29, 2021 , Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Is Meta Really Betta? . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in Technology Photo Illustration by Mel Haasch; Grace Cary/Getty Images Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times Editors’ Picks Image by Eric Striffler for The New York Times Getty Images Trending in The Times Sisi Yu Illustration by Eleanor Davis Karsten Moran for The New York Times Sebastian Siadecki for The New York Times Kaoly Gutierrez for The New York Times Amanda Shae Home Team Realty Group Disney/Pixar Hiba Kola/Reuters Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times Paul Ellis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [Technology](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology) [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2021%252F10%252F28%252Ftechnology%252Ffacebook-meta-name-change.html&asset=masthead) Thursday, March 5, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) [Technology](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology)\\|Facebook Renames Itself Meta https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html - Share full article - 726 Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-top) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-sponsor) # Facebook Renames Itself Meta The social network, under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues, said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse. - Share full article - 726 ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/28/us/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub--articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has been committed to building the “metaverse,” a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse.Credit...Eric Risberg/Associated Press [![Mike Isaac](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/02/16/multimedia/author-mike-isaac/author-mike-isaac-thumbLarge-v3.png)](https://www.nytimes.com/by/mike-isaac) By [Mike Isaac](https://www.nytimes.com/by/mike-isaac) Published Oct. 28, 2021Updated Nov. 10, 2021 SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F. No longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasizing Facebook’s name and [rebranding itself as Meta](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/technology/facebook-meta-new-logo.html). The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain but under the Meta umbrella. The move punctuates how [Mark Zuckerberg](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/style/mark-zuckerberg-meta-jokes.html), the chief executive, plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the [metaverse](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/style/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html). At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to [spread hate speech and misinformation.](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/technology/facebook-election-misinformation.html) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, Mr. Zuckerberg said, speaking at a virtual event on Thursday to showcase Facebook’s technological bets on the future. “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.” With the change, Mr. Zuckerberg telegraphed that his company was going beyond today’s social networking, which Facebook has been built on since it was founded 17 years ago. Having Facebook as the corporate name when the company now owned many apps and was fundamentally about connecting people was no longer tenable, he said. That was especially the case, Mr. Zuckerberg said, as Facebook has committed to building a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. He has said that this concept, known as the metaverse, can be the next major social platform and that several tech companies will build it over the next 10-plus years. On Monday, Facebook had signaled its intent to be a big player when it separated its virtual reality and augmented reality business into a division known as [Facebook Reality Labs](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/technology/facebook-profits-earnings-q3-2021.html). Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/28/business/28facebook-park/28facebook-park-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) The company’s new logo was unveiled on Thursday at its headquarters.Credit...Justin Sullivan/Getty Images But evolving Facebook into a metaverse company will take time since the concept is theoretical and may take years to achieve. Facebook and its sister apps also remain a giant business, generating more than \$86 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 3.5 billion people globally. The timing of the name change has a double advantage. Facebook has grappled with some of the [most intense scrutiny](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/business/facebook-papers-takeaways.html) in its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for hurting some teenagers’ self-esteem and the company has faced questions for its role in amplifying misinformation and stirring unrest with inflammatory content. The outcry reached a fever pitch after [Frances Haugen](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/technology/whistle-blower-facebook-frances-haugen.html), a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents that showed how much the company knew about the harmful effects it was causing. Findings from Ms. Haugen’s documents were first published by The Wall Street Journal and then other media organizations, including The New York Times. The revelations have led to a slew of congressional hearings, as well as legal and regulatory scrutiny. On Monday, Ms. Haugen [spoke to British lawmakers](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/business/frances-haugen-facebook.html) in Parliament and urged them to regulate Facebook. On Tuesday, [Facebook told its employees](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/technology/facebook-legal-communications.html) to “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies had started inquiries into its operations. Corporate rebrands are rare but have precedent. They have generally been used to signal a company’s structural reorganization or to distance a company from a toxic reputation. In 2015, [Google restructured itself](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/technology/google-alphabet-restructuring.html) under a new parent company, Alphabet, dividing itself into separate companies to better differentiate its internet search business from the moonshot bets it was making in other areas. In 2011, Netflix announced plans to [cleave its video business into two parts](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/technology/netflix-lost-800000-members-with-price-rise-and-split-plan.html), briefly renaming its DVD-by-mail arm as Qwikster. After [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/19/22735612/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse) reported last week that Facebook might change its name, social media erupted with less desirable comparisons. Some recalled how Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, rebranded itself to Altria Group in 2001 after years of reputational damage [over the health costs](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/14/us/cigarette-makers-and-states-draft-a-206-billion-deal.html) and effects of cigarettes on the American public. ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/02/multimedia/02TBRTrethewey-Review-qzlp/02TBRTrethewey-Review-qzlp-thumbLarge.jpg)Her Daughters Got the Press. Until Now.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/books/review/muv-rachel-trethewey.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/12/12visualUploader-56768-cover/12visualUploader-56768-cover-thumbLarge.jpg)40 Years and 10,000 Broadcasts In, They’re Still Live on Air](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/business/media/anchors-rick-ardon-susannah-carr-perth-australia.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/06/20/fashion/socialqs-2021-artwork/socialqs-2021-artwork-thumbLarge-v2.jpg)My Boss Didn’t Care That My Mother Was Dying. Help\!](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/style/bereavement-grief-boss-unsympathetic.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-pp_edpick) Nicholas Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global policy and communications, has rejected the comparisons, calling them “extremely misleading.” Facebook’s name change is largely cosmetic. It will begin trading under the stock ticker MVRS beginning on Dec. 1. The company will also rebrand some of its virtual-reality products as Meta, shifting away from the original brand name of Oculus. The company was not restructured and no executive changes were announced. Mr. Zuckerberg also remains chief executive and chairman. He holds majority voting power over any changes that could affect the future of the company. “No matter what Mark Zuckerberg calls it, it will remain Zuckerberg Inc. until he relinquishes some power and yields to functional corporate governance,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media researcher at Syracuse University. For months, Facebook has been building up to the metaverse announcement. Last year, it released its newest virtual-reality headsets, the [Oculus Quest 2](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/technology/personaltech/facebook-oculus-quest-2-review-vr-headset-games.html). In August, it unveiled virtual-reality service called [Horizon Workrooms](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/technology/facebooks-new-bet-on-virtual-reality-conference-rooms.html), a virtual meeting room where people using the virtual-reality headsets can gather as if they were at an in-person work meeting. And in September, it announced [a new line of eyewear](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/technology/facebook-wayfarer-stories-smart-glasses.html) with Ray-Ban, which can record videos. Those products are all pieces of the metaverse, which Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged on Thursday sounded like “science fiction.” Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s chief technology officer, has also said the metaverse will need significant technological breakthroughs to happen and that the company was working on new versions of virtual reality and augmented reality hardware to make them smaller, less expensive and more immersive. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/29/business/29facebook-handouts-print/28facebook-handouts-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) In a demonstration, Mark Zuckerberg showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.Credit...Meta Even so, Mr. Zuckerberg on Thursday talked up the idea as “the successor to the mobile internet” and said mobile devices would no longer be the focal points. The building blocks for the metaverse were also already available, he said. In a demonstration, he showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet. “You’re really going to feel like you’re there with other people,” he said. “You’re not going to be locked into one world or platform.” Subscriber-only Live Event ### Can We Find Real Community Online? Thursday, November 18 5 p.m. E.T. \\| 2 p.m. P.T. What have the C.E.O. of Reddit and a drag queen learned about building robust communities online? Join them and other special guests at our virtual event to find out. Mr. Zuckerberg said creating the metaverse would take work across different technology companies, new forms of governance and other elements that would not come in the short term. But he laid out several areas where the metaverse would be applicable, citing video gaming, fitness and work. Mr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office. He talked up several immersive video games. And he demonstrated Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality-based social network, where friends and family could come together and interact. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/28/business/28facebook-handouts/28facebook-handouts-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Mr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office.Credit...Meta Success will depend partly on attracting others to create new apps and programs that work in the metaverse. As with the mobile app economy, users are more likely to join new computing ecosystems if there are programs and software for them to use. As a result, Mr. Zuckerberg said he would continue offering low-cost or free services to developers and invest in attracting more developers through creator funds and other capital injections. Among other things, Facebook has earmarked \$150 million for developers who create new kinds of immersive learning apps and programs. “We are fully committed to this,” he said. “It is the next chapter of our work.” The Metaverse [![]()Facebook Wrestles With the Features It Used to Define Social Networking Oct. 25, 2021](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/technology/facebook-like-share-buttons.html) [![]()Facebook’s New Bet on Virtual Reality: Conference Rooms Aug. 19, 2021](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/technology/facebooks-new-bet-on-virtual-reality-conference-rooms.html) [![]()Are We in the Metaverse Yet? July 10, 2021](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/style/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html) A correction was made on Oct. 28, 2021 : An earlier version of this article misstated the division of Netflix that the company briefly renamed Qwikster in 2011. It was the DVD-by-mail arm, not the streaming unit. * When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at [corrections@nytimes.com](mailto:corrections@nytimes.com).[Learn more](https://www.nytimes.com/explain/2022/new-york-times-journalism) [Mike Isaac](https://www.nytimes.com/by/mike-isaac) is a technology correspondent and the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, a NYT best-selling book on the dramatic rise and fall of the ride-hailing company. He regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley, and is based in The Times's San Francisco bureau. A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 29, 2021, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Is Meta Really Betta?. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) See more on: [Facebook Inc.](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/company/facebook-inc), [Frances Haugen](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/frances-haugen), [Mark Zuckerberg](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg) Read 726 comments - Share full article - 726 * ## Explore Our Business and Tech Coverage ### Dive deeper into the people, issues and trends shaping the worlds of business and technology. * - 40 Years and 10,000 Broadcasts: Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr [have been delivering the news together](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/business/media/anchors-rick-ardon-susannah-carr-perth-australia.html) in Western Australia since 1985 — a Guinness World Record. - Appeal of the iPod: It’s not exactly going analog, [but people looking to move away from streaming](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/technology/apple-ipod-music-comeback.html) say Apple’s old device is a small step away from constantly being online. - Corner Office**: Everette Taylor took over Kickstarter at a low moment for the crowdfunding pioneer, but now he [excitedly points to the ways it has modernized its platform](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/business/kickstarter-everette-taylor-interview-remote-four-day-workweek.html). - ‘Bossware’: Popularized in 2020, the term [refers to the technology some managers use to supervise](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/business/bossware-work-surveillance-tools.html) and surveil employees in the workplace. 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Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-top) The social network, under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues, said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse. ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/28/us/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub/28Facebook-mets-name-change-sub--articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has been committed to building the “metaverse,” a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse.Credit...Eric Risberg/Associated Press Published Oct. 28, 2021Updated Nov. 10, 2021 SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F. No longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasizing Facebook’s name and [rebranding itself as Meta](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/technology/facebook-meta-new-logo.html). The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain but under the Meta umbrella. The move punctuates how [Mark Zuckerberg](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/style/mark-zuckerberg-meta-jokes.html), the chief executive, plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the [metaverse](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/style/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html). At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to [spread hate speech and misinformation.](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/technology/facebook-election-misinformation.html) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, Mr. Zuckerberg said, speaking at a virtual event on Thursday to showcase Facebook’s technological bets on the future. “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.” With the change, Mr. Zuckerberg telegraphed that his company was going beyond today’s social networking, which Facebook has been built on since it was founded 17 years ago. Having Facebook as the corporate name when the company now owned many apps and was fundamentally about connecting people was no longer tenable, he said. That was especially the case, Mr. Zuckerberg said, as Facebook has committed to building a composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. He has said that this concept, known as the metaverse, can be the next major social platform and that several tech companies will build it over the next 10-plus years. On Monday, Facebook had signaled its intent to be a big player when it separated its virtual reality and augmented reality business into a division known as [Facebook Reality Labs](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/technology/facebook-profits-earnings-q3-2021.html). Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/28/business/28facebook-park/28facebook-park-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) The company’s new logo was unveiled on Thursday at its headquarters.Credit...Justin Sullivan/Getty Images But evolving Facebook into a metaverse company will take time since the concept is theoretical and may take years to achieve. Facebook and its sister apps also remain a giant business, generating more than \$86 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 3.5 billion people globally. The timing of the name change has a double advantage. Facebook has grappled with some of the [most intense scrutiny](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/business/facebook-papers-takeaways.html) in its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for hurting some teenagers’ self-esteem and the company has faced questions for its role in amplifying misinformation and stirring unrest with inflammatory content. The outcry reached a fever pitch after [Frances Haugen](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/technology/whistle-blower-facebook-frances-haugen.html), a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents that showed how much the company knew about the harmful effects it was causing. Findings from Ms. Haugen’s documents were first published by The Wall Street Journal and then other media organizations, including The New York Times. The revelations have led to a slew of congressional hearings, as well as legal and regulatory scrutiny. On Monday, Ms. Haugen [spoke to British lawmakers](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/business/frances-haugen-facebook.html) in Parliament and urged them to regulate Facebook. On Tuesday, [Facebook told its employees](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/technology/facebook-legal-communications.html) to “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies had started inquiries into its operations. Corporate rebrands are rare but have precedent. They have generally been used to signal a company’s structural reorganization or to distance a company from a toxic reputation. In 2015, [Google restructured itself](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/technology/google-alphabet-restructuring.html) under a new parent company, Alphabet, dividing itself into separate companies to better differentiate its internet search business from the moonshot bets it was making in other areas. In 2011, Netflix announced plans to [cleave its video business into two parts](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/technology/netflix-lost-800000-members-with-price-rise-and-split-plan.html), briefly renaming its DVD-by-mail arm as Qwikster. After [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/19/22735612/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse) reported last week that Facebook might change its name, social media erupted with less desirable comparisons. Some recalled how Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, rebranded itself to Altria Group in 2001 after years of reputational damage [over the health costs](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/14/us/cigarette-makers-and-states-draft-a-206-billion-deal.html) and effects of cigarettes on the American public. Nicholas Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global policy and communications, has rejected the comparisons, calling them “extremely misleading.” Facebook’s name change is largely cosmetic. It will begin trading under the stock ticker MVRS beginning on Dec. 1. The company will also rebrand some of its virtual-reality products as Meta, shifting away from the original brand name of Oculus. The company was not restructured and no executive changes were announced. Mr. Zuckerberg also remains chief executive and chairman. He holds majority voting power over any changes that could affect the future of the company. “No matter what Mark Zuckerberg calls it, it will remain Zuckerberg Inc. until he relinquishes some power and yields to functional corporate governance,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media researcher at Syracuse University. For months, Facebook has been building up to the metaverse announcement. Last year, it released its newest virtual-reality headsets, the [Oculus Quest 2](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/technology/personaltech/facebook-oculus-quest-2-review-vr-headset-games.html). In August, it unveiled virtual-reality service called [Horizon Workrooms](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/technology/facebooks-new-bet-on-virtual-reality-conference-rooms.html), a virtual meeting room where people using the virtual-reality headsets can gather as if they were at an in-person work meeting. And in September, it announced [a new line of eyewear](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/technology/facebook-wayfarer-stories-smart-glasses.html) with Ray-Ban, which can record videos. Those products are all pieces of the metaverse, which Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged on Thursday sounded like “science fiction.” Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s chief technology officer, has also said the metaverse will need significant technological breakthroughs to happen and that the company was working on new versions of virtual reality and augmented reality hardware to make them smaller, less expensive and more immersive. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/29/business/29facebook-handouts-print/28facebook-handouts-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) In a demonstration, Mark Zuckerberg showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet.Credit...Meta Even so, Mr. Zuckerberg on Thursday talked up the idea as “the successor to the mobile internet” and said mobile devices would no longer be the focal points. The building blocks for the metaverse were also already available, he said. In a demonstration, he showed a digital avatar of himself that transported to different digital worlds while talking to friends and family, no matter where they were on the planet. “You’re really going to feel like you’re there with other people,” he said. “You’re not going to be locked into one world or platform.” What have the C.E.O. of Reddit and a drag queen learned about building robust communities online? Join them and other special guests at our virtual event to find out. Mr. Zuckerberg said creating the metaverse would take work across different technology companies, new forms of governance and other elements that would not come in the short term. But he laid out several areas where the metaverse would be applicable, citing video gaming, fitness and work. Mr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office. He talked up several immersive video games. And he demonstrated Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality-based social network, where friends and family could come together and interact. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/10/28/business/28facebook-handouts/28facebook-handouts-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Mr. Zuckerberg showed Horizon Workrooms, a virtual conference room product, where colleagues could work together remotely on different projects that they might have once done at the office.Credit...Meta Success will depend partly on attracting others to create new apps and programs that work in the metaverse. As with the mobile app economy, users are more likely to join new computing ecosystems if there are programs and software for them to use. As a result, Mr. Zuckerberg said he would continue offering low-cost or free services to developers and invest in attracting more developers through creator funds and other capital injections. Among other things, Facebook has earmarked \$150 million for developers who create new kinds of immersive learning apps and programs. “We are fully committed to this,” he said. “It is the next chapter of our work.” A correction was made on Oct. 28, 2021 : An earlier version of this article misstated the division of Netflix that the company briefly renamed Qwikster in 2011. It was the DVD-by-mail arm, not the streaming unit. [Mike Isaac](https://www.nytimes.com/by/mike-isaac) is a technology correspondent and the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, a NYT best-selling book on the dramatic rise and fall of the ride-hailing company. He regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley, and is based in The Times's San Francisco bureau. A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 29, 2021, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Is Meta Really Betta?. 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The grocery chain was founded in 1970. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/04/multimedia/00xp-iceland-wqcf/00xp-iceland-wqcf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Paul Ellis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html#after-bottom)
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