The news:
Facebook is changing its company name next week to redirect its focus on METAVERSE. Yes! The fourth richest man, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is obsessed with Metaverse. And this is the next move.
Zuckerberg plans to talk about it at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th. But the little information from the tech giant signals its ambition- to be more than just a social media tech giant and become a METAVERSE company.
A spokesperson from Facebook declined to talk about its rebranding. But the whistleblowers hints at the idea of having a parent company, which will oversee the Facebook app, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and others. Facebook already is on the move with this! It has hired more than 10,000 employees working on hardware like AR glasses.
There is, of course! More to the news!
The term “Metaverse” explained:
Simply put, Metaverse is a set of digital spaces that are more lifelike since it uses virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Through these virtual spaces, people can create and explore experiences with one another, especially when separated by physical distance.
It includes everything in a VR space- shopping, gaming, learning, co-creation, and simply hanging out.
Some Metaverse has already gained traction, like- Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox.
The “Why” behind the news:
A question that might pop into your head is the WHY? What’s the need of rebranding an already gigantic brand? Here’s why:
- Metaverse is the future of the social network. So why not start to be distinguished.
- Of course, reinvent and capitalize on it! In 2014 bought Oculus VR for $2.3 billion (a virtual reality display targeting video gamers). For using it, one has to be logged in to Facebook.
- Control Distribution- right now, Facebook depends on other firms like Apple and Google for distributing its app and website. It wants to launch its vertical distribution that is hardware.
- With Oculus under him, Zuckerberg can connect people to Facebook in a more immersive way and directly!
- Infiltrate the corporate world by launching VR workrooms under a Metaverse, to overthrow Zoom and Slack.
- To be the next big in the gaming world.
- Rebranding means forgetting all the ills attached to Facebook. All the data privacy issues and whatnot.
The future:
In the next five years, Zuckerberg wants Facebook to be known as a Metaverse company. Though it can render, the solid social network it has as irrelevant.
In the future, with Metaverse, there will be identities made on Metaverse. Imagine anyone can open a virtual space to share anything like a photo.
Also, Interesting to know:
Metaverse started as a science fiction term. In 1992 Neal Stephenson coined the term “Metaverse” in his novel Snow Crash. Where Metaverse meant a 3D virtual world inhabited by the avatars of people, other books also mention the term. Still, Stephenson’s remain the most preferred one. Another is Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel- Ready Player One.
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