🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 174 (from laksa001)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa174.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.popsci.com/technology/facebook-changes-name-to-meta/\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-changes-name-to-meta/\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-changes-name-to-meta\/","crawl_time":1775463641,"first_indexed_time":1635455112,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,popsci!www,\/technology\/facebook-changes-name-to-meta\/ s443","src_root_hash":"1151996776091235174","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Facebook goes metaverse-first with new company name | Popular Science","meta_descriptions":["In the 2021 Connect Keynote, Mark Zuckerberg outlined his plans for the metaverse and for the future of the company."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Facebook goes \"Meta\"\nFacebook Reality Labs\nGet the Popular Science daily newsletter💡\nBreakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week.\nStarting today, the Facebook app will move under a new company name:\nMeta\n. \nMoving forward, the company will be “metaverse first,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today, which means that over time, you won’t need to use a Facebook account to access other products under the Meta umbrella. \nIt also means that the company will report on their business as two different operating segments: one for their family of apps, and one for their work on future platforms (Reality Labs will be the name for that segment). The\ncompany intends to\ntrade under a new stock ticker, MVRS, starting December 1. \nZuckerberg made the announcement on Thursday during the\nkeynote\nof the 2021 Facebook Connect event. (The company name change had been a\nprevious source of speculation\nfollowing a report from\nThe Verge\n.) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.”\n[Related:\nFacebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage\n]\nZuckerberg argued that they build technology to connect people, and the metaverse is simply the “next frontier.” \n“Our devices are still designed around apps, not people,” he adds. “The experiences we’re allowed to build and use are more tightly controlled than ever.”\nZuckerberg spent almost the entire keynote carefully laying out a blueprint that shows what different components within his vision for the metaverse would look like in practice. While building out their social media apps will still remain a focus, he hopes that over time, the company’s brand will be less tightly linked to just one product.\nThe metaverse will in essence be\nan embodied internet\nthat Zuckerberg thinks will become the next immersive digital medium to evolve after video (which evolved from photos and texts). Imagine it like virtual teleportation, or an internet that links up various virtual reality and augmented reality social experiences.\nInstead of looking at the screen, you’re going to be able to be “in” these experiences. That’s likely to be achieved through creating a deep feeling of presence in a shared space, which would be the defining quality of the metaverse. That will require hardware, such as the Oculus Quest 2 device or others, which the company makes or will make.\n[Related:\nCongress is coming for big tech—here’s how and why\n]\nZuckerberg also announced that sometime this year, users will be able to make Messenger calls in virtual reality. Virtual reality could also unlock new potential for gaming, which might become a gateway for many to step into the metaverse, he said.  \nOne virtual feature that may help enable this feeling of presence is the newly introduced “Presence Platform,” which will include tools such as Insight SDK, Interaction SDK, and Voice SDK. These tools will let users use hand or voice interactions in their virtual experiences. (An SDK is a “software development kit.”)\nA tool called Spark AR could place 3D objects with depth and occlusion into the real world where people can interact with them. \n[Related:\nRenaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem\n]\nAdditionally, a new hardware project called “Cambria” will be able to incorporate sensors, tracking, depth perception, and new optics to better represent your physical world in a headset. \nMichael Abrash, chief scientist at Oculus, said that they are working to refine the tech of displays, audio, input, haptics (which is feedback that you feel physically on a device), hand tracking, eye tracking, and mixed reality in preparation for the next-generation metaverse. \nHe illustrated examples of the team’s work in reconstructed reality— recreating realistic people with facial expression and body language, spaces, how things move, how things interact, and respond to interaction. This is done by indexing the texture and geometry of objects in the real world. In a short demo, a researcher’s AR glasses helped them map the room and the objects in it, and the glasses then measured eye movement to estimate what object the researcher wanted to interact with. \n[Related:\nFacebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean?\n]\nMore importantly, the metaverse would be a new platform that could connect to different apps and allow users to bring items and data across different virtual spaces or even project them into the physical world through augmented reality. In other words, products can be used all across the metaverse instead of only on one app or one platform. \nZuckerberg painted a future where NFTs can be displayed in digital rooms, and independent creators and businesses could build out the metaverse economy through a virtual marketplace by offering new content, services, experiences, or products. And neural interfaces along with AI and neural motor control will be able to translate brain signals into commands. \nThe company is considering creating incentives for developers and new users to come onboard. These include options like lowering fees, subsidizing devices, or selling them at cost to increase adoption. \nHowever, it’s important to note that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s dreams certainly does not fully exist. Zuckerberg said that only the basic building blocks do at the moment. Ultimately, technical challenges remain—it’s not easy to compress augmented reality hardware and powerful computers into a pair of glasses, for example. \nAlthough in a\nfounder’s letter\n, Zuckerberg promises to promote privacy and safety on this new “social technology” platform, it’s yet to be seen whether he can convince people, especially from the younger generations that have been\nfalling off Facebook\n, to actually use it. And many wonder if a new interface will just bring forth some of the\nsame old problems\n. \n \n2025 PopSci Best of What’s New\nThe 50 most important innovations of the year\n ","attrs_markdown":"**🛍️ [Amazon Big Spring Sale: 100+ editor-approved deals worth buying right now](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/gear\/best-deals-amazon-big-spring-sale-2026\/) 🛍️**\n\n[![Popular Science Logo](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Nav-logo.svg?quality=85)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/)\n\n[![Popular Science Logo](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Nav-logo.svg?quality=85)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/)\n\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/science\/)\n  - [Archaeology](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/archaeology\/)\n  - [Ask Us Anything](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/ask-us-anything\/)\n  - [Biology](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/biology\/)\n  - [Dinosaurs](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/dinosaurs\/)\n  - [Physics](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/physics\/)\n  - [Popular Science Videos](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/popular-science-videos\/)\n  - [Space](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/space\/)\n  - [The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/weirdest-thing-i-learned-this-week\/)\n- [Technology](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/technology\/)\n  - [AI](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/ai\/)\n  - [Aviation](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/aviation\/)\n  - [Engineering](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/engineering\/)\n  - [Internet](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/internet\/)\n  - [Military](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/military\/)\n  - [Photography](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/photography\/)\n  - [Robots](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/robots\/)\n  - [Security](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/security\/)\n  - [Best of What's New](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/gear\/best-of-whats-new-2025\/)\n  - [Vehicles](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/vehicles\/)\n- [Environment](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/environment\/)\n  - [Agriculture](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/agriculture\/)\n  - [Animals](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/animals\/)\n  - [Climate Change](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/climate-change\/)\n  - [Conservation](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/conservation\/)\n  - [Energy](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/energy\/)\n  - [Sustainability](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/sustainability\/)\n  - [Weather](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/weather\/)\n- [DIY](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/diy\/)\n  - [Life Skills](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/life-skills\/)\n  - [Projects](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/projects\/)\n  - [Tech Hacks](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/tech-hacks\/)\n- [Gear](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/gear\/)\n  - [Audio](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/audio\/)\n  - [Cameras](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/cameras\/)\n  - [Computers](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/computers\/)\n  - [Fitness Gear](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/fitness-gear\/)\n  - [Gaming](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/gaming\/)\n  - [Gift Guides](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/gift-guides\/)\n  - [Home](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/home\/)\n  - [Home Theater](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/home-theater\/)\n  - [Outdoor Gear](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/outdoor-gear\/)\n  - [Phones](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/phones\/)\n  - [Tablets](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/tablets\/)\n  - [Wearables](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/wearables\/)\n- [MERCH](https:\/\/store.popsci.com\/)\n  - [Cover Art](https:\/\/popularscienceprints.com\/)\n  - [Store](https:\/\/store.popsci.com\/)\n- [Newsletter](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/email-signup\/)\n\n[Technology](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/technology\/) [Internet](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/internet\/) [Social Media](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/social-media\/)\n\n# Facebook changes its name as it pushes toward a digital reality future\nIn the 2021 Connect keynote, Mark Zuckerberg outlined his plans for the metaverse and for the future of the company.\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\nUpdated  Oct 29, 2021 9:28 AM EDT\n\n[Add Popular Science (opens in a new tab)](https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=popsci.com)\n\nAdding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results.\n\n![Mark Zuckerberg announces new company name meta](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/28\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-2.31.03-PM.png?quality=85&w=2048)\n\nFacebook goes \"Meta\"   Facebook Reality Labs\n\n## Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡\nBreakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week.\n\n[Terms of Service](https:\/\/recurrent.io\/terms-and-conditions\/) and [Privacy Policy.](https:\/\/recurrent.io\/privacy-policy\/)\n\nStarting today, the Facebook app will move under a new company name: [Meta](https:\/\/meta.com\/).\n\nMoving forward, the company will be “metaverse first,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today, which means that over time, you won’t need to use a Facebook account to access other products under the Meta umbrella.\n\nIt also means that the company will report on their business as two different operating segments: one for their family of apps, and one for their work on future platforms (Reality Labs will be the name for that segment). The [company intends to](https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2021\/10\/facebook-company-is-now-meta\/) trade under a new stock ticker, MVRS, starting December 1.\n\nZuckerberg made the announcement on Thursday during the [keynote](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/facebookrealitylabs\/videos\/561535698440683) of the 2021 Facebook Connect event. (The company name change had been a [previous source of speculation](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/) following a report from [*The Verge*](https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/10\/19\/22735612\/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse).) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.”\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Facebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-outage-explanation\/)**\\]**\n\nZuckerberg argued that they build technology to connect people, and the metaverse is simply the “next frontier.”\n\n“Our devices are still designed around apps, not people,” he adds. “The experiences we’re allowed to build and use are more tightly controlled than ever.”\n\nZuckerberg spent almost the entire keynote carefully laying out a blueprint that shows what different components within his vision for the metaverse would look like in practice. While building out their social media apps will still remain a focus, he hopes that over time, the company’s brand will be less tightly linked to just one product.\n\nThe metaverse will in essence be [an embodied internet](https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2021\/10\/the-metaverse-is-about-to-change-everything) that Zuckerberg thinks will become the next immersive digital medium to evolve after video (which evolved from photos and texts). Imagine it like virtual teleportation, or an internet that links up various virtual reality and augmented reality social experiences.\n\nInstead of looking at the screen, you’re going to be able to be “in” these experiences. That’s likely to be achieved through creating a deep feeling of presence in a shared space, which would be the defining quality of the metaverse. That will require hardware, such as the Oculus Quest 2 device or others, which the company makes or will make.\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Congress is coming for big tech—here’s how and why**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/senate-introduces-tech-antitrust-bill\/)**\\]**\n\nZuckerberg also announced that sometime this year, users will be able to make Messenger calls in virtual reality. Virtual reality could also unlock new potential for gaming, which might become a gateway for many to step into the metaverse, he said.\n\nOne virtual feature that may help enable this feeling of presence is the newly introduced “Presence Platform,” which will include tools such as Insight SDK, Interaction SDK, and Voice SDK. These tools will let users use hand or voice interactions in their virtual experiences. (An SDK is a “software development kit.”)\n\nA tool called Spark AR could place 3D objects with depth and occlusion into the real world where people can interact with them.\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-name-change-metaverse\/)**\\]**\n\nAdditionally, a new hardware project called “Cambria” will be able to incorporate sensors, tracking, depth perception, and new optics to better represent your physical world in a headset.\n\nMichael Abrash, chief scientist at Oculus, said that they are working to refine the tech of displays, audio, input, haptics (which is feedback that you feel physically on a device), hand tracking, eye tracking, and mixed reality in preparation for the next-generation metaverse.\n\nHe illustrated examples of the team’s work in reconstructed reality— recreating realistic people with facial expression and body language, spaces, how things move, how things interact, and respond to interaction. This is done by indexing the texture and geometry of objects in the real world. In a short demo, a researcher’s AR glasses helped them map the room and the objects in it, and the glasses then measured eye movement to estimate what object the researcher wanted to interact with.\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Facebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean?**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/)**\\]**\n\nMore importantly, the metaverse would be a new platform that could connect to different apps and allow users to bring items and data across different virtual spaces or even project them into the physical world through augmented reality. In other words, products can be used all across the metaverse instead of only on one app or one platform.\n\nZuckerberg painted a future where NFTs can be displayed in digital rooms, and independent creators and businesses could build out the metaverse economy through a virtual marketplace by offering new content, services, experiences, or products. And neural interfaces along with AI and neural motor control will be able to translate brain signals into commands.\n\nThe company is considering creating incentives for developers and new users to come onboard. These include options like lowering fees, subsidizing devices, or selling them at cost to increase adoption.\n\nHowever, it’s important to note that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s dreams certainly does not fully exist. Zuckerberg said that only the basic building blocks do at the moment. Ultimately, technical challenges remain—it’s not easy to compress augmented reality hardware and powerful computers into a pair of glasses, for example.\n\nAlthough in a [founder’s letter](https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2021\/10\/founders-letter\/), Zuckerberg promises to promote privacy and safety on this new “social technology” platform, it’s yet to be seen whether he can convince people, especially from the younger generations that have been [falling off Facebook](https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/22743744\/facebook-teen-usage-decline-frances-haugen-leaks), to actually use it. And many wonder if a new interface will just bring forth some of the [same old problems](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/).\n\n![products on a page that says best of what's new 2025](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/best-of-whats-new-2025-HERO.png?quality=85&w=300)\n\n### 2025 PopSci Best of What’s New\nThe 50 most important innovations of the year\n\n[See it](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/gear\/best-of-whats-new-2025\/)\n\n[![Charlotte Hu Avatar](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/07\/Screen-Shot-2022-03-07-at-1.03.34-PM.png?quality=85&w=102&h=102&crop=1)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n## [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n### Assistant Technology Editor\n\nCharlotte is the assistant technology editor at Popular Science. She’s interested in understanding how our relationship with technology is changing, and how we live online.\n***\n\n## Trending\n[![Person holding large pile of colorful clothes close-up on white background](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/what-to-do-with-clothes-you-cant-donate.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/environment\/what-to-do-with-clothes-you-cant-donate\/)\n\n[Sustainability](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/sustainability\/)\n\n[What to do with clothes you can’t donate](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/environment\/what-to-do-with-clothes-you-cant-donate\/)\n\nBy [Debbie Wolfe](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/debbie-wolfe\/)\n\n[![Rusty nail tetanus infection misinformation vaccines](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/08\/R7ZDD2Y4GKQAVX2JISIEIQOP6E.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/tetanus-infection\/)\n\n[Vaccines](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/vaccines\/)\n\n[Everything you thought you knew about tetanus is wrong](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/tetanus-infection\/)\n\nBy [Eleanor Cummins](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/eleanor-cummins\/)\n\n## More in Social Media\n[![facebook sign](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/20\/alex-haney-AGqzy-Uj3s4-unsplash.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/)\n\n[Facebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean?](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[![dislike button water droplets](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/04\/barefoot-communications-z2M7JefmTEw-unsplash-scaled.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/apple-privacy-changes-meta\/)\n\n[Your privacy is costing Meta money](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/apple-privacy-changes-meta\/)\n\nBy [Colleen Hagerty](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/colleen-hagerty\/)\n\n[![NVIDIA supercomputing tech](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/24\/NVIDIA-DGX-SuperPod-1280x680-1-19-22.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/meta-nvidia-ai-supercomputer\/)\n\n[Meta’s new supercomputer could power its virtual universe](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/meta-nvidia-ai-supercomputer\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[![group chats now available across Instagram and Messenger.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/30\/insta-messenger.png?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-introduces-cross-app-group-chats\/)\n\n[Facebook users can now mix Messenger and Instagram friends in group chats](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-introduces-cross-app-group-chats\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[![Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/22\/greg-bulla-KItSIXhXFDY-unsplash.jpeg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-name-change-metaverse\/)\n\n[Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-name-change-metaverse\/)\n\nBy [Shira Feder](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/shira-feder\/)\n\n[![Facebook login screen.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/04\/solen-feyissa-iurEAyYyU_c-unsplash.jpeg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-down-outage\/)\n\n[What we know about why Facebook went down](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-down-outage\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[![Facebook meta advertising](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/10\/will-francis-r02wxT3-PYw-unsplash-scaled.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/meta-facebook-targeted-advertising-changes\/)\n\n[Facebook is making a big change in how it serves ads](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/meta-facebook-targeted-advertising-changes\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[![Face detection in photos](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/03\/face-detection-gcf360e956_1920.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-ends-face-recognition-system\/)\n\n[Facebook archived more than a billion user faces. Now it’s deleting them.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-ends-face-recognition-system\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[SEE MORE](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/social-media\/)\n\n## More in Internet\n[![teens texting on smartphone](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/29\/creative-christians-HN6uXG7GzTE-unsplash.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/instagram-kids-wsj-investigation-facebook\/)\n\n[Criticism has pushed ‘Instagram Kids’ back to the drawing board](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/instagram-kids-wsj-investigation-facebook\/)\n\nBy [Colleen Hagerty](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/colleen-hagerty\/)\n\n[![Routers at a data center.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/05\/taylor-vick-M5tzZtFCOfs-unsplash-scaled.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-outage-explanation\/)\n\n[Facebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-outage-explanation\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[![A woman wearing a Microsoft Hololens and interacting with an invisible hologram that only she can see.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/03\/CIMCRCMZW5BP5F76S3IKIE2RZA.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/microsoft-mesh-holographic-mixed-reality\/)\n\n[Microsoft’s new Mesh platform turns your remote coworkers into holograms](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/microsoft-mesh-holographic-mixed-reality\/)\n\nBy [Stan Horaczek](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/stan-horaczek\/)\n\n[![Screenshot of Walmart Land metaverse setting in Roblox video game](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/29\/walmart-land-roblox-experience-daytime.jpeg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/walmart-land-metaverse\/)\n\n[Welcome to Walmart Land, the retail giant’s attempt at entering the metaverse](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/walmart-land-metaverse\/)\n\nBy [Andrew Paul](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/andrew-paul\/)\n\n[![Facebook loading screen](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/21\/Depositphotos_521486946_L-e1682010965853.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-creating-separate-friends-and-family-feed\/)\n\n[Facebook will try to make its news feed more personal again](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-creating-separate-friends-and-family-feed\/)\n\nBy [Charlotte Hu](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/charlotte-hu\/)\n\n[![Mark Zuckerberg Congress](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/11\/Z4CWDG7ZGVEYLOV65BMNCBLUEU.png?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/story\/technology\/facebook-ftc-monopoly-antitrust-lawsuit\/)\n\n[State and federal officials want to break up Facebook. What does that mean for you?](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/story\/technology\/facebook-ftc-monopoly-antitrust-lawsuit\/)\n\nBy [Stan Horaczek](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/stan-horaczek\/)\n\n[![We’re sorry to report that NFTs are coming to Instagram](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/13\/Introducing-Digital-Collectibles-to-Showcase-NFTs-on-Instagram_Header-1.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/nfts-coming-instagram\/)\n\n[We’re sorry to report that NFTs are coming to Instagram](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/nfts-coming-instagram\/)\n\nBy [Harry Guinness](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/harry-guinness\/)\n\n[![It’s not just you—everyone hates Instagram now. Here’s why.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/27\/brett-jordan-fmqhTMu4IVU-unsplash.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/why-everyone-hates-instagram-update\/)\n\n[It’s not just you—everyone hates Instagram now. Here’s why.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/why-everyone-hates-instagram-update\/)\n\nBy [Harry Guinness](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/harry-guinness\/)\n\n[SEE MORE](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/internet\/)\n\n## More in Technology\n[![Mark Zuckerberg walks on stage to open Facebook's F8 developer conference.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/PFWRNREYTN744WRZCLBMTO4ASA.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/best-things-we-saw-at-facebooks-f8-keynote\/)\n\n[The Best Things We Saw At Facebook’s F8 Keynote Today](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/best-things-we-saw-at-facebooks-f8-keynote\/)\n\nBy [Dave Gershgorn](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/dave-gershgorn\/)\n\n[![F8 2016](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/3WRTKCAZ5OBNHOLGTFDPVZTW5E.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/where-to-watch-facebooks-f8-keynote-livestream\/)\n\n[Where To Watch Facebook’s F8 Keynote Livestream](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/where-to-watch-facebooks-f8-keynote-livestream\/)\n\nBy [Xavier Harding](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/xavier-harding\/)\n\n[![Google VR Clay Bavor](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/ZCUAQX7XONMXBXZA4C7V4NE6CY.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/google-vr-clay-bavor-q-a\/)\n\n[Google VR And The Quest For Wireless, Affordable Virtual Reality](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/google-vr-clay-bavor-q-a\/)\n\nBy [Xavier Harding](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/xavier-harding\/)\n\n[![Human Anatomy Gets Virtual](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/3EK4WML5ELKFIS7VGWDOMHCKLA.png?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/human-anatomy-gets-virtual\/)\n\n[Human Anatomy Gets Virtual](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/human-anatomy-gets-virtual\/)\n\nBy [Alexandra Ossola](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/alexandra-ossola\/)\n\n[![This Is The Defining Photo Of Virtual Reality (So Far)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/OCGKVYCXBQ2R6B5BA6JHEV3B4U.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/this-is-defining-photo-virtual-reality-so-far\/)\n\n[This Is The Defining Photo Of Virtual Reality (So Far)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/this-is-defining-photo-virtual-reality-so-far\/)\n\nBy [Carl Franzen](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/carl-franzen\/)\n\n[![How Pokémon Is Coming To Your Smartphone](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/VP6D6TFBHBZMD5EOLJFJ2BC3DE.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/pokemon-go-release-date-price-plus-interview-niantic\/)\n\n[How Pokémon Is Coming To Your Smartphone](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/pokemon-go-release-date-price-plus-interview-niantic\/)\n\nBy [Xavier Harding](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/xavier-harding\/)\n\n[![You Can Now Use Google Street View In Virtual Reality](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/DAU7WY5QDFCOEDSLBTRNN7MZZI.png?quality=85&w=600)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/google-cardboard-gains-street-view-support\/)\n\n[You Can Now Use Google Street View In Virtual Reality](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/google-cardboard-gains-street-view-support\/)\n\nBy [Xavier Harding](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/xavier-harding\/)\n\n[![Facebook is starting to teach their algorithms to watch videos and identify the people inside.](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/18\/5WFP3WKOA7W2Z75ZNBKS4Z3PXA.png?quality=85&w=768)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/facebook-wants-artificial-intelligence-to-watch-all-live-videos\/)\n\n[Facebook Wants Its Artificial Intelligence To Watch All Your Live Videos](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/facebook-wants-artificial-intelligence-to-watch-all-live-videos\/)\n\nBy [Dave Gershgorn](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/authors\/dave-gershgorn\/)\n\n[SEE MORE](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/technology\/)\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/28\/popsci_logo-horizontal-white.svg?quality=85&w=128&h=28&crop=1)](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/)\n\n## Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡\nBreakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week.\n\n[Terms of Service](https:\/\/recurrent.io\/terms-and-conditions\/) and [Privacy Policy.](https:\/\/recurrent.io\/privacy-policy\/)\n\n- [Editorial Standards](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/editorial-standards\/)\n- [How We Test and Review Products](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/product-testing-and-review-guidelines\/)\n- [About Us](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/about-us\/)\n- [Contact Us](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/contact\/)\n\n- [TV Channel](https:\/\/underknown.com\/popularscience\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/recurrent.io\/privacy-policy\/)\n- [Terms & Conditions](https:\/\/recurrent.io\/terms-and-conditions\/)\n- [Affiliate Disclosure](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/affiliate-disclosure\/)\n- [Sitemap](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sitemap\/)\n- [Deposit Photos](https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=138113X1700773&isjs=1&jv=15.7.1&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popsci.com%2F&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdepositphotos.com%2F&xs=1&xtz=240&xuuid=8b0cd3c294016e919484397db9a10f62&xcust=5peiZeEsEiJ6EMmspVrAAol&xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D)\n## FOLLOW US\n### DISCLAIMER(S)\nArticles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.  \n   \n © 2026 [Recurrent](https:\/\/recurrent.io\/). All rights reserved.  \n   \n [Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information]().\n\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/science\/)\n- [Technology](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/technology\/)\n- [Environment](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/environment\/)\n- [DIY](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/diy\/)\n- [Gear](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/category\/gear\/)\n- [Merch](https:\/\/store.popsci.com\/)\n- [SHOP](https:\/\/shop.popsci.com\/)","attrs_readable_markdown":"![Mark Zuckerberg announces new company name meta](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/28\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-2.31.03-PM.png?quality=85&w=2048)\n\nFacebook goes \"Meta\"   Facebook Reality Labs\n\n## Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡\nBreakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week.\n\nStarting today, the Facebook app will move under a new company name: [Meta](https:\/\/meta.com\/).\n\nMoving forward, the company will be “metaverse first,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today, which means that over time, you won’t need to use a Facebook account to access other products under the Meta umbrella.\n\nIt also means that the company will report on their business as two different operating segments: one for their family of apps, and one for their work on future platforms (Reality Labs will be the name for that segment). The [company intends to](https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2021\/10\/facebook-company-is-now-meta\/) trade under a new stock ticker, MVRS, starting December 1.\n\nZuckerberg made the announcement on Thursday during the [keynote](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/facebookrealitylabs\/videos\/561535698440683) of the 2021 Facebook Connect event. (The company name change had been a [previous source of speculation](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/) following a report from [*The Verge*](https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/10\/19\/22735612\/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse).) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.”\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Facebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-outage-explanation\/)**\\]**\n\nZuckerberg argued that they build technology to connect people, and the metaverse is simply the “next frontier.”\n\n“Our devices are still designed around apps, not people,” he adds. “The experiences we’re allowed to build and use are more tightly controlled than ever.”\n\nZuckerberg spent almost the entire keynote carefully laying out a blueprint that shows what different components within his vision for the metaverse would look like in practice. While building out their social media apps will still remain a focus, he hopes that over time, the company’s brand will be less tightly linked to just one product.\n\nThe metaverse will in essence be [an embodied internet](https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2021\/10\/the-metaverse-is-about-to-change-everything) that Zuckerberg thinks will become the next immersive digital medium to evolve after video (which evolved from photos and texts). Imagine it like virtual teleportation, or an internet that links up various virtual reality and augmented reality social experiences.\n\nInstead of looking at the screen, you’re going to be able to be “in” these experiences. That’s likely to be achieved through creating a deep feeling of presence in a shared space, which would be the defining quality of the metaverse. That will require hardware, such as the Oculus Quest 2 device or others, which the company makes or will make.\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Congress is coming for big tech—here’s how and why**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/senate-introduces-tech-antitrust-bill\/)**\\]**\n\nZuckerberg also announced that sometime this year, users will be able to make Messenger calls in virtual reality. Virtual reality could also unlock new potential for gaming, which might become a gateway for many to step into the metaverse, he said.\n\nOne virtual feature that may help enable this feeling of presence is the newly introduced “Presence Platform,” which will include tools such as Insight SDK, Interaction SDK, and Voice SDK. These tools will let users use hand or voice interactions in their virtual experiences. (An SDK is a “software development kit.”)\n\nA tool called Spark AR could place 3D objects with depth and occlusion into the real world where people can interact with them.\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-name-change-metaverse\/)**\\]**\n\nAdditionally, a new hardware project called “Cambria” will be able to incorporate sensors, tracking, depth perception, and new optics to better represent your physical world in a headset.\n\nMichael Abrash, chief scientist at Oculus, said that they are working to refine the tech of displays, audio, input, haptics (which is feedback that you feel physically on a device), hand tracking, eye tracking, and mixed reality in preparation for the next-generation metaverse.\n\nHe illustrated examples of the team’s work in reconstructed reality— recreating realistic people with facial expression and body language, spaces, how things move, how things interact, and respond to interaction. This is done by indexing the texture and geometry of objects in the real world. In a short demo, a researcher’s AR glasses helped them map the room and the objects in it, and the glasses then measured eye movement to estimate what object the researcher wanted to interact with.\n\n**\\[Related:** [**Facebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean?**](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/)**\\]**\n\nMore importantly, the metaverse would be a new platform that could connect to different apps and allow users to bring items and data across different virtual spaces or even project them into the physical world through augmented reality. In other words, products can be used all across the metaverse instead of only on one app or one platform.\n\nZuckerberg painted a future where NFTs can be displayed in digital rooms, and independent creators and businesses could build out the metaverse economy through a virtual marketplace by offering new content, services, experiences, or products. And neural interfaces along with AI and neural motor control will be able to translate brain signals into commands.\n\nThe company is considering creating incentives for developers and new users to come onboard. These include options like lowering fees, subsidizing devices, or selling them at cost to increase adoption.\n\nHowever, it’s important to note that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s dreams certainly does not fully exist. Zuckerberg said that only the basic building blocks do at the moment. Ultimately, technical challenges remain—it’s not easy to compress augmented reality hardware and powerful computers into a pair of glasses, for example.\n\nAlthough in a [founder’s letter](https:\/\/about.fb.com\/news\/2021\/10\/founders-letter\/), Zuckerberg promises to promote privacy and safety on this new “social technology” platform, it’s yet to be seen whether he can convince people, especially from the younger generations that have been [falling off Facebook](https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/22743744\/facebook-teen-usage-decline-frances-haugen-leaks), to actually use it. And many wonder if a new interface will just bring forth some of the [same old problems](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/technology\/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand\/).\n\n![products on a page that says best of what's new 2025](https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/best-of-whats-new-2025-HERO.png?quality=85&w=300)\n\n### 2025 PopSci Best of What’s New\nThe 50 most important innovations of the year","meta_canonical":null}

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Meta Title	Facebook goes metaverse-first with new company name \| Popular Science
Meta Description	In the 2021 Connect Keynote, Mark Zuckerberg outlined his plans for the metaverse and for the future of the company.
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Boilerpipe Text	Facebook goes "Meta" Facebook Reality Labs Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Starting today, the Facebook app will move under a new company name: Meta . Moving forward, the company will be “metaverse first,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today, which means that over time, you won’t need to use a Facebook account to access other products under the Meta umbrella. It also means that the company will report on their business as two different operating segments: one for their family of apps, and one for their work on future platforms (Reality Labs will be the name for that segment). The company intends to trade under a new stock ticker, MVRS, starting December 1. Zuckerberg made the announcement on Thursday during the keynote of the 2021 Facebook Connect event. (The company name change had been a previous source of speculation following a report from The Verge .) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.” [Related: Facebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage ] Zuckerberg argued that they build technology to connect people, and the metaverse is simply the “next frontier.” “Our devices are still designed around apps, not people,” he adds. “The experiences we’re allowed to build and use are more tightly controlled than ever.” Zuckerberg spent almost the entire keynote carefully laying out a blueprint that shows what different components within his vision for the metaverse would look like in practice. While building out their social media apps will still remain a focus, he hopes that over time, the company’s brand will be less tightly linked to just one product. The metaverse will in essence be an embodied internet that Zuckerberg thinks will become the next immersive digital medium to evolve after video (which evolved from photos and texts). Imagine it like virtual teleportation, or an internet that links up various virtual reality and augmented reality social experiences. Instead of looking at the screen, you’re going to be able to be “in” these experiences. That’s likely to be achieved through creating a deep feeling of presence in a shared space, which would be the defining quality of the metaverse. That will require hardware, such as the Oculus Quest 2 device or others, which the company makes or will make. [Related: Congress is coming for big tech—here’s how and why ] Zuckerberg also announced that sometime this year, users will be able to make Messenger calls in virtual reality. Virtual reality could also unlock new potential for gaming, which might become a gateway for many to step into the metaverse, he said. One virtual feature that may help enable this feeling of presence is the newly introduced “Presence Platform,” which will include tools such as Insight SDK, Interaction SDK, and Voice SDK. These tools will let users use hand or voice interactions in their virtual experiences. (An SDK is a “software development kit.”) A tool called Spark AR could place 3D objects with depth and occlusion into the real world where people can interact with them. [Related: Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem ] Additionally, a new hardware project called “Cambria” will be able to incorporate sensors, tracking, depth perception, and new optics to better represent your physical world in a headset. Michael Abrash, chief scientist at Oculus, said that they are working to refine the tech of displays, audio, input, haptics (which is feedback that you feel physically on a device), hand tracking, eye tracking, and mixed reality in preparation for the next-generation metaverse. He illustrated examples of the team’s work in reconstructed reality— recreating realistic people with facial expression and body language, spaces, how things move, how things interact, and respond to interaction. This is done by indexing the texture and geometry of objects in the real world. In a short demo, a researcher’s AR glasses helped them map the room and the objects in it, and the glasses then measured eye movement to estimate what object the researcher wanted to interact with. [Related: Facebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean? ] More importantly, the metaverse would be a new platform that could connect to different apps and allow users to bring items and data across different virtual spaces or even project them into the physical world through augmented reality. In other words, products can be used all across the metaverse instead of only on one app or one platform. Zuckerberg painted a future where NFTs can be displayed in digital rooms, and independent creators and businesses could build out the metaverse economy through a virtual marketplace by offering new content, services, experiences, or products. And neural interfaces along with AI and neural motor control will be able to translate brain signals into commands. The company is considering creating incentives for developers and new users to come onboard. These include options like lowering fees, subsidizing devices, or selling them at cost to increase adoption. However, it’s important to note that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s dreams certainly does not fully exist. Zuckerberg said that only the basic building blocks do at the moment. Ultimately, technical challenges remain—it’s not easy to compress augmented reality hardware and powerful computers into a pair of glasses, for example. Although in a founder’s letter , Zuckerberg promises to promote privacy and safety on this new “social technology” platform, it’s yet to be seen whether he can convince people, especially from the younger generations that have been falling off Facebook , to actually use it. And many wonder if a new interface will just bring forth some of the same old problems . 2025 PopSci Best of What’s New The 50 most important innovations of the year
Markdown	🛍️ [Amazon Big Spring Sale: 100+ editor-approved deals worth buying right now](https://www.popsci.com/gear/best-deals-amazon-big-spring-sale-2026/) 🛍️ [![Popular Science Logo](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Nav-logo.svg?quality=85)](https://www.popsci.com/) [![Popular Science Logo](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Nav-logo.svg?quality=85)](https://www.popsci.com/) - [Science](https://www.popsci.com/category/science/) - [Archaeology](https://www.popsci.com/category/archaeology/) - [Ask Us Anything](https://www.popsci.com/category/ask-us-anything/) - [Biology](https://www.popsci.com/category/biology/) - [Dinosaurs](https://www.popsci.com/category/dinosaurs/) - [Physics](https://www.popsci.com/category/physics/) - [Popular Science Videos](https://www.popsci.com/category/popular-science-videos/) - [Space](https://www.popsci.com/category/space/) - [The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week](https://www.popsci.com/category/weirdest-thing-i-learned-this-week/) - [Technology](https://www.popsci.com/category/technology/) - [AI](https://www.popsci.com/category/ai/) - [Aviation](https://www.popsci.com/category/aviation/) - [Engineering](https://www.popsci.com/category/engineering/) - [Internet](https://www.popsci.com/category/internet/) - [Military](https://www.popsci.com/category/military/) - [Photography](https://www.popsci.com/category/photography/) - [Robots](https://www.popsci.com/category/robots/) - [Security](https://www.popsci.com/category/security/) - [Best of What's New](https://www.popsci.com/gear/best-of-whats-new-2025/) - [Vehicles](https://www.popsci.com/category/vehicles/) - [Environment](https://www.popsci.com/category/environment/) - [Agriculture](https://www.popsci.com/category/agriculture/) - [Animals](https://www.popsci.com/category/animals/) - [Climate Change](https://www.popsci.com/category/climate-change/) - [Conservation](https://www.popsci.com/category/conservation/) - [Energy](https://www.popsci.com/category/energy/) - [Sustainability](https://www.popsci.com/category/sustainability/) - [Weather](https://www.popsci.com/category/weather/) - [DIY](https://www.popsci.com/category/diy/) - [Life Skills](https://www.popsci.com/category/life-skills/) - [Projects](https://www.popsci.com/category/projects/) - [Tech Hacks](https://www.popsci.com/category/tech-hacks/) - [Gear](https://www.popsci.com/category/gear/) - [Audio](https://www.popsci.com/category/audio/) - [Cameras](https://www.popsci.com/category/cameras/) - [Computers](https://www.popsci.com/category/computers/) - [Fitness Gear](https://www.popsci.com/category/fitness-gear/) - [Gaming](https://www.popsci.com/category/gaming/) - [Gift Guides](https://www.popsci.com/category/gift-guides/) - [Home](https://www.popsci.com/category/home/) - [Home Theater](https://www.popsci.com/category/home-theater/) - [Outdoor Gear](https://www.popsci.com/category/outdoor-gear/) - [Phones](https://www.popsci.com/category/phones/) - [Tablets](https://www.popsci.com/category/tablets/) - [Wearables](https://www.popsci.com/category/wearables/) - [MERCH](https://store.popsci.com/) - [Cover Art](https://popularscienceprints.com/) - [Store](https://store.popsci.com/) - [Newsletter](https://www.popsci.com/email-signup/) [Technology](https://www.popsci.com/category/technology/) [Internet](https://www.popsci.com/category/internet/) [Social Media](https://www.popsci.com/category/social-media/) # Facebook changes its name as it pushes toward a digital reality future In the 2021 Connect keynote, Mark Zuckerberg outlined his plans for the metaverse and for the future of the company. By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) Updated Oct 29, 2021 9:28 AM EDT [Add Popular Science (opens in a new tab)](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=popsci.com) Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. ![Mark Zuckerberg announces new company name meta](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/28/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-2.31.03-PM.png?quality=85&w=2048) Facebook goes "Meta" Facebook Reality Labs ## Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. [Terms of Service](https://recurrent.io/terms-and-conditions/) and [Privacy Policy.](https://recurrent.io/privacy-policy/) Starting today, the Facebook app will move under a new company name: [Meta](https://meta.com/). Moving forward, the company will be “metaverse first,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today, which means that over time, you won’t need to use a Facebook account to access other products under the Meta umbrella. It also means that the company will report on their business as two different operating segments: one for their family of apps, and one for their work on future platforms (Reality Labs will be the name for that segment). The [company intends to](https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/facebook-company-is-now-meta/) trade under a new stock ticker, MVRS, starting December 1. Zuckerberg made the announcement on Thursday during the [keynote](https://www.facebook.com/facebookrealitylabs/videos/561535698440683) of the 2021 Facebook Connect event. (The company name change had been a [previous source of speculation](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/) following a report from [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/19/22735612/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse).) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.” \[Related: [Facebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-outage-explanation/)\] Zuckerberg argued that they build technology to connect people, and the metaverse is simply the “next frontier.” “Our devices are still designed around apps, not people,” he adds. “The experiences we’re allowed to build and use are more tightly controlled than ever.” Zuckerberg spent almost the entire keynote carefully laying out a blueprint that shows what different components within his vision for the metaverse would look like in practice. While building out their social media apps will still remain a focus, he hopes that over time, the company’s brand will be less tightly linked to just one product. The metaverse will in essence be [an embodied internet](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/10/the-metaverse-is-about-to-change-everything) that Zuckerberg thinks will become the next immersive digital medium to evolve after video (which evolved from photos and texts). Imagine it like virtual teleportation, or an internet that links up various virtual reality and augmented reality social experiences. Instead of looking at the screen, you’re going to be able to be “in” these experiences. That’s likely to be achieved through creating a deep feeling of presence in a shared space, which would be the defining quality of the metaverse. That will require hardware, such as the Oculus Quest 2 device or others, which the company makes or will make. \[Related: [Congress is coming for big tech—here’s how and why](https://www.popsci.com/technology/senate-introduces-tech-antitrust-bill/)\] Zuckerberg also announced that sometime this year, users will be able to make Messenger calls in virtual reality. Virtual reality could also unlock new potential for gaming, which might become a gateway for many to step into the metaverse, he said. One virtual feature that may help enable this feeling of presence is the newly introduced “Presence Platform,” which will include tools such as Insight SDK, Interaction SDK, and Voice SDK. These tools will let users use hand or voice interactions in their virtual experiences. (An SDK is a “software development kit.”) A tool called Spark AR could place 3D objects with depth and occlusion into the real world where people can interact with them. \[Related: [Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-name-change-metaverse/)\] Additionally, a new hardware project called “Cambria” will be able to incorporate sensors, tracking, depth perception, and new optics to better represent your physical world in a headset. Michael Abrash, chief scientist at Oculus, said that they are working to refine the tech of displays, audio, input, haptics (which is feedback that you feel physically on a device), hand tracking, eye tracking, and mixed reality in preparation for the next-generation metaverse. He illustrated examples of the team’s work in reconstructed reality— recreating realistic people with facial expression and body language, spaces, how things move, how things interact, and respond to interaction. This is done by indexing the texture and geometry of objects in the real world. In a short demo, a researcher’s AR glasses helped them map the room and the objects in it, and the glasses then measured eye movement to estimate what object the researcher wanted to interact with. \[Related: [Facebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean?](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/)\] More importantly, the metaverse would be a new platform that could connect to different apps and allow users to bring items and data across different virtual spaces or even project them into the physical world through augmented reality. In other words, products can be used all across the metaverse instead of only on one app or one platform. Zuckerberg painted a future where NFTs can be displayed in digital rooms, and independent creators and businesses could build out the metaverse economy through a virtual marketplace by offering new content, services, experiences, or products. And neural interfaces along with AI and neural motor control will be able to translate brain signals into commands. The company is considering creating incentives for developers and new users to come onboard. These include options like lowering fees, subsidizing devices, or selling them at cost to increase adoption. However, it’s important to note that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s dreams certainly does not fully exist. Zuckerberg said that only the basic building blocks do at the moment. Ultimately, technical challenges remain—it’s not easy to compress augmented reality hardware and powerful computers into a pair of glasses, for example. Although in a [founder’s letter](https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/founders-letter/), Zuckerberg promises to promote privacy and safety on this new “social technology” platform, it’s yet to be seen whether he can convince people, especially from the younger generations that have been [falling off Facebook](https://www.theverge.com/22743744/facebook-teen-usage-decline-frances-haugen-leaks), to actually use it. And many wonder if a new interface will just bring forth some of the [same old problems](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/). ![products on a page that says best of what's new 2025](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/best-of-whats-new-2025-HERO.png?quality=85&w=300) ### 2025 PopSci Best of What’s New The 50 most important innovations of the year [See it](https://www.popsci.com/gear/best-of-whats-new-2025/) [![Charlotte Hu Avatar](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/07/Screen-Shot-2022-03-07-at-1.03.34-PM.png?quality=85&w=102&h=102&crop=1)](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) ## [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) ### Assistant Technology Editor Charlotte is the assistant technology editor at Popular Science. She’s interested in understanding how our relationship with technology is changing, and how we live online. *** ## Trending [![Person holding large pile of colorful clothes close-up on white background](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/what-to-do-with-clothes-you-cant-donate.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/environment/what-to-do-with-clothes-you-cant-donate/) [Sustainability](https://www.popsci.com/category/sustainability/) [What to do with clothes you can’t donate](https://www.popsci.com/environment/what-to-do-with-clothes-you-cant-donate/) By [Debbie Wolfe](https://www.popsci.com/authors/debbie-wolfe/) [![Rusty nail tetanus infection misinformation vaccines](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/08/R7ZDD2Y4GKQAVX2JISIEIQOP6E.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/tetanus-infection/) [Vaccines](https://www.popsci.com/category/vaccines/) [Everything you thought you knew about tetanus is wrong](https://www.popsci.com/tetanus-infection/) By [Eleanor Cummins](https://www.popsci.com/authors/eleanor-cummins/) ## More in Social Media [![facebook sign](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/20/alex-haney-AGqzy-Uj3s4-unsplash.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/) [Facebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean?](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [![dislike button water droplets](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/04/barefoot-communications-z2M7JefmTEw-unsplash-scaled.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/apple-privacy-changes-meta/) [Your privacy is costing Meta money](https://www.popsci.com/technology/apple-privacy-changes-meta/) By [Colleen Hagerty](https://www.popsci.com/authors/colleen-hagerty/) [![NVIDIA supercomputing tech](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/24/NVIDIA-DGX-SuperPod-1280x680-1-19-22.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/meta-nvidia-ai-supercomputer/) [Meta’s new supercomputer could power its virtual universe](https://www.popsci.com/technology/meta-nvidia-ai-supercomputer/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [![group chats now available across Instagram and Messenger.](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/30/insta-messenger.png?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-introduces-cross-app-group-chats/) [Facebook users can now mix Messenger and Instagram friends in group chats](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-introduces-cross-app-group-chats/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [![Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/22/greg-bulla-KItSIXhXFDY-unsplash.jpeg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-name-change-metaverse/) [Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-name-change-metaverse/) By [Shira Feder](https://www.popsci.com/authors/shira-feder/) [![Facebook login screen.](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/04/solen-feyissa-iurEAyYyU_c-unsplash.jpeg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-down-outage/) [What we know about why Facebook went down](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-down-outage/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [![Facebook meta advertising](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/10/will-francis-r02wxT3-PYw-unsplash-scaled.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/meta-facebook-targeted-advertising-changes/) [Facebook is making a big change in how it serves ads](https://www.popsci.com/technology/meta-facebook-targeted-advertising-changes/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [![Face detection in photos](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/03/face-detection-gcf360e956_1920.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-ends-face-recognition-system/) [Facebook archived more than a billion user faces. Now it’s deleting them.](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-ends-face-recognition-system/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [SEE MORE](https://www.popsci.com/category/social-media/) ## More in Internet [![teens texting on smartphone](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/29/creative-christians-HN6uXG7GzTE-unsplash.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/instagram-kids-wsj-investigation-facebook/) [Criticism has pushed ‘Instagram Kids’ back to the drawing board](https://www.popsci.com/technology/instagram-kids-wsj-investigation-facebook/) By [Colleen Hagerty](https://www.popsci.com/authors/colleen-hagerty/) [![Routers at a data center.](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/05/taylor-vick-M5tzZtFCOfs-unsplash-scaled.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-outage-explanation/) [Facebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-outage-explanation/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [![A woman wearing a Microsoft Hololens and interacting with an invisible hologram that only she can see.](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/03/CIMCRCMZW5BP5F76S3IKIE2RZA.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/microsoft-mesh-holographic-mixed-reality/) [Microsoft’s new Mesh platform turns your remote coworkers into holograms](https://www.popsci.com/technology/microsoft-mesh-holographic-mixed-reality/) By [Stan Horaczek](https://www.popsci.com/authors/stan-horaczek/) [![Screenshot of Walmart Land metaverse setting in Roblox video game](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/29/walmart-land-roblox-experience-daytime.jpeg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/walmart-land-metaverse/) [Welcome to Walmart Land, the retail giant’s attempt at entering the metaverse](https://www.popsci.com/technology/walmart-land-metaverse/) By [Andrew Paul](https://www.popsci.com/authors/andrew-paul/) [![Facebook loading screen](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/21/Depositphotos_521486946_L-e1682010965853.jpg?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-creating-separate-friends-and-family-feed/) [Facebook will try to make its news feed more personal again](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-creating-separate-friends-and-family-feed/) By [Charlotte Hu](https://www.popsci.com/authors/charlotte-hu/) [![Mark Zuckerberg Congress](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/11/Z4CWDG7ZGVEYLOV65BMNCBLUEU.png?quality=85&w=768)](https://www.popsci.com/story/technology/facebook-ftc-monopoly-antitrust-lawsuit/) [State and federal officials want to break up Facebook. 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Readable Markdown	![Mark Zuckerberg announces new company name meta](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/28/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-2.31.03-PM.png?quality=85&w=2048) Facebook goes "Meta" Facebook Reality Labs ## Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Starting today, the Facebook app will move under a new company name: [Meta](https://meta.com/). Moving forward, the company will be “metaverse first,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today, which means that over time, you won’t need to use a Facebook account to access other products under the Meta umbrella. It also means that the company will report on their business as two different operating segments: one for their family of apps, and one for their work on future platforms (Reality Labs will be the name for that segment). The [company intends to](https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/facebook-company-is-now-meta/) trade under a new stock ticker, MVRS, starting December 1. Zuckerberg made the announcement on Thursday during the [keynote](https://www.facebook.com/facebookrealitylabs/videos/561535698440683) of the 2021 Facebook Connect event. (The company name change had been a [previous source of speculation](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/) following a report from [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/19/22735612/facebook-change-company-name-metaverse).) “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.” \[Related: [Facebook has an explanation for its massive Monday outage](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-outage-explanation/)\] Zuckerberg argued that they build technology to connect people, and the metaverse is simply the “next frontier.” “Our devices are still designed around apps, not people,” he adds. “The experiences we’re allowed to build and use are more tightly controlled than ever.” Zuckerberg spent almost the entire keynote carefully laying out a blueprint that shows what different components within his vision for the metaverse would look like in practice. While building out their social media apps will still remain a focus, he hopes that over time, the company’s brand will be less tightly linked to just one product. The metaverse will in essence be [an embodied internet](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/10/the-metaverse-is-about-to-change-everything) that Zuckerberg thinks will become the next immersive digital medium to evolve after video (which evolved from photos and texts). Imagine it like virtual teleportation, or an internet that links up various virtual reality and augmented reality social experiences. Instead of looking at the screen, you’re going to be able to be “in” these experiences. That’s likely to be achieved through creating a deep feeling of presence in a shared space, which would be the defining quality of the metaverse. That will require hardware, such as the Oculus Quest 2 device or others, which the company makes or will make. \[Related: [Congress is coming for big tech—here’s how and why](https://www.popsci.com/technology/senate-introduces-tech-antitrust-bill/)\] Zuckerberg also announced that sometime this year, users will be able to make Messenger calls in virtual reality. Virtual reality could also unlock new potential for gaming, which might become a gateway for many to step into the metaverse, he said. One virtual feature that may help enable this feeling of presence is the newly introduced “Presence Platform,” which will include tools such as Insight SDK, Interaction SDK, and Voice SDK. These tools will let users use hand or voice interactions in their virtual experiences. (An SDK is a “software development kit.”) A tool called Spark AR could place 3D objects with depth and occlusion into the real world where people can interact with them. \[Related: [Renaming the company won’t fix Facebook’s image problem](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-name-change-metaverse/)\] Additionally, a new hardware project called “Cambria” will be able to incorporate sensors, tracking, depth perception, and new optics to better represent your physical world in a headset. Michael Abrash, chief scientist at Oculus, said that they are working to refine the tech of displays, audio, input, haptics (which is feedback that you feel physically on a device), hand tracking, eye tracking, and mixed reality in preparation for the next-generation metaverse. He illustrated examples of the team’s work in reconstructed reality— recreating realistic people with facial expression and body language, spaces, how things move, how things interact, and respond to interaction. This is done by indexing the texture and geometry of objects in the real world. In a short demo, a researcher’s AR glasses helped them map the room and the objects in it, and the glasses then measured eye movement to estimate what object the researcher wanted to interact with. \[Related: [Facebook might rebrand as a ‘metaverse’ company. What does that even mean?](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/)\] More importantly, the metaverse would be a new platform that could connect to different apps and allow users to bring items and data across different virtual spaces or even project them into the physical world through augmented reality. In other words, products can be used all across the metaverse instead of only on one app or one platform. Zuckerberg painted a future where NFTs can be displayed in digital rooms, and independent creators and businesses could build out the metaverse economy through a virtual marketplace by offering new content, services, experiences, or products. And neural interfaces along with AI and neural motor control will be able to translate brain signals into commands. The company is considering creating incentives for developers and new users to come onboard. These include options like lowering fees, subsidizing devices, or selling them at cost to increase adoption. However, it’s important to note that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s dreams certainly does not fully exist. Zuckerberg said that only the basic building blocks do at the moment. Ultimately, technical challenges remain—it’s not easy to compress augmented reality hardware and powerful computers into a pair of glasses, for example. Although in a [founder’s letter](https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/founders-letter/), Zuckerberg promises to promote privacy and safety on this new “social technology” platform, it’s yet to be seen whether he can convince people, especially from the younger generations that have been [falling off Facebook](https://www.theverge.com/22743744/facebook-teen-usage-decline-frances-haugen-leaks), to actually use it. And many wonder if a new interface will just bring forth some of the [same old problems](https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebook-planning-name-change-for-rebrand/). ![products on a page that says best of what's new 2025](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/best-of-whats-new-2025-HERO.png?quality=85&w=300) ### 2025 PopSci Best of What’s New The 50 most important innovations of the year
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