On October 28, 2021 Facebook announced they’re getting a face-lift in the form of a new brand name. Here’s the breakdown of what it means for us.
Put simply, nothing is changing for the social network. Facebook, the social network, that you’ve experienced these past 17 years, isn’t changing. The parent company is changing its name from Facebook to Meta. This move makes good business sense as the parent company continues to acquire other digital entities, products and develops their own innovations.
Keeping It Clear
As someone who has worked at branding agencies in the past, parent companies need to have a clear identity that’s separate from its entities. Why? To maintain clarity of who’s who to the masses (that’s us!) as well as for business and legal protection purposes — which if we’re being honest, Facebook needs all it can get right now.
When Facebook started in 2004 on the campus of Cambridge, it was just Facebook, the social network. But over the years Zucks and the crew over at 1 Hacker Way, started to acquire entities like Instagram in 2012 and What’s App in 2014 (just to name a few). So in this case, Facebook became the parent company in effect. But now, with the company’s new(ish) mission, rebranding the parent company to Meta makes structural sense, although if I’m being honest, I’m not a fan of the name and I’m not entirely sure this will “save face” for the digital giant. But alas here we are.
Keeping It Clean
This strategic business decision was necessary for Zucks to try and steer the heat off of Facebook in the news and media lately. When the social network and the parent company had the same name, it led to confusion in the mainstream media and users of the social platform started (and still continue) to flee with all the backlash and accusations of misinformation and betrayal of privacy throughout the digital entities.
What's In A Name?
With Facebook’s parent company now being called “Meta.” It’s perhaps important to understand why they chose this name and their mission and vision going forward as a company. We’re talking more immersive experiences (ahem, more screentime), holograms, virtual reality that actually feels like reality. If you’re thinking this sounds like a sci-fi movie, I’m right there with you!
Excerpt from Meta’s Founder’s Letter – October 28, 2021
The next platform will be even more immersive — an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse, and it will touch every product we build.
The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence — like you are right there with another person or in another place. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology. That is why we are focused on building this.
In the metaverse, you’ll be able to do almost anything you can imagine — get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create — as well as completely new experiences that don’t really fit how we think about computers or phones today. We made a film that explores how you might use the metaverse one day.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is, for those of us who are Facebook social network users will not be directly impacted by this parent company name change. You don’t have to worry about the social network changing its name, just its algorithm every couple of seconds. Ha!
What are your thoughts on the brand name? Necessary? Lame? Couldn’t care less?