By: April Carson
FACEBOOK is rolling out a number of changes to its privacy policy, including limiting access to social media data for third-party developers. The social network, which has come under fire for spreading misinformation and other concerns, announced the move as part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse.
Facebook has grown into one of the world's most well-known companies over the last two decades with some of the world's most recognized brand identity: a large blue-and-white F.
That is no longer the case. On Thursday, Facebook made a clear move toward change, renaming itself Meta and de-emphasizing its name. A new corporate logo that was slightly askew accompanied the transformation. Under the Meta banner, Facebook and its other applications will continue to operate, such as Instagram and WhatsApp.
The change emphasizes how Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, is shifting Facebook's Silicon Valley business towards a new digital frontier called the metaverse, in which different digital realms would be unified into a single world known as the metaverse. At the same time, changing Facebook's name could assist distance it from recent social networking issues such as how it may be used to spread misinformation and how it may be manipulated by foreign governments, such as Russia.
“I've been thinking a lot about our core identity lately,” Mr. Zuckerberg added, addressing the new chapter during a virtual event on Thursday to showcase Facebook's technological bets for the future. “I want us to be known as a metaverse business over time.”
With the transition, Mr. Zuckerberg let it be known that his firm was moving beyond today's social networking, which Facebook has been based on since its inception 17 years ago. He explained that having Facebook as the corporate name when the firm now owned numerous applications and was primarily about connecting individuals was no longer viable.
Mr. Zuckerberg said that, while Facebook has committed to developing a composite universe merging online, virtual, and augmented environments that users can effortlessly move through, it was particularly significant given the fact that the company has committed to building a metaverse - a term for an integrated internet-connected world previously coined by Mark Zuckerberg himself. He has stated that this idea was inspired by Neal Stephenson's critically acclaimed science fiction novel Snow Crash.
The transition of Facebook into a metaverse firm will take time since the idea is theoretical and may take years to fulfill. Facebook and its subsidiaries remain a major corporation, bringing in more than $86 billion each year and serving 3.5 billion people across the world.
The name switch has a double benefit: Facebook has faced some of the most intense scrutiny in its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for damaging teenage self-esteem, while the company has been accused of exacerbating disinformation and inciting conflict with inflammatory material.
The furor reached a boiling point after Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, leaked internal papers that demonstrated how much the firm knew about the potentially negative consequences of its actions. According to The Wall Street Journal and others, findings from Ms. Haugen's documents were first published by The Wall Street Journal and then spread across the news media.
The admissions have prompted a slew of congressional hearings and legal and regulatory review. On Monday, Ms. Haugen addressed British lawmakers in Parliament and urged them to regulate Facebook. Because governments and legislative bodies had initiated investigations into its operations, Facebook advised its employees to “save internal documents and communications from 2016” that concerned its businesses.
Corporate renames are uncommon, but they do exist. They've generally been utilized to indicate a company's structural overhaul or to dissociate it from a negative reputation.
In 2015, Google was reorganized under a new parent firm, Alphabet, dividing itself into separate divisions to better distinguish its internet search business from the moonshot bets it was making in other areas. Netflix announced intentions to cleave its video operations into two parts in 2011, briefly renaming its DVD-by-mail arm as Qwikster.
After the The Verge reported last week that Facebook might alter its name, social media lit up with comments like "unliked." Some compared it to Philip Morris, the tobacco company, which changed its name to Altria Group in 2001 after years of reputation damage over the health costs and consequences of cigarettes on the general public.
Facebook vice president for global policy and communications Nick Clegg has squashed the comparisons, describing them as "extremely misleading."
The name change of Facebook is largely superficial. Beginning on Dec. 1, the company will begin trading under the stock ticker MVRS. Some of the virtual-reality goods will be renamed Meta, moving away from the original brand name of Oculus.
The firm was not re-staffed, and no new management positions were announced. Mr. Zuckerberg continues to be the company's CEO and chairman. He has absolute control over any changes that might have a significant influence on the future of the business.
“It won't matter what Mark Zuckerberg calls it, because it will continue to be Zukerberg Inc. until he relinquishes some power and allows for operational corporate governance,” Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media researcher at Syracuse University, added.
For months, Facebook has been laying the groundwork for its metaverse announcement. Last year, it introduced the second-generation Oculus Quest virtual reality headsets. In August, it debuted Horizon Workrooms, a virtual meeting room where people using virtual reality headsets may gather as if they were at an in-person work meeting. And in September, it announced a partnership with the virtual-reality game "Elite Dangerous" to launch Spaces.
In a post on Facebook, Zuckerberg explained that the metaverse is our future. It's something we'll all be part of in the future, and it sounds like "science fiction," he said.
Facebook's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, has also said the metaverse will require major technological breakthroughs to become a reality and that the company was developing new versions of virtual reality and augmented reality hardware to make them smaller, less expensive, and more immersive.
Mr. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, referred to it as "the next generation of the mobile internet" and said that mobile gadgets would no longer be central points. The metaverse's foundation elements have also been established, he claimed in a demonstration. He demonstrated a digital avatar of himself that could travel to various virtual realms while chatting with friends and watching a video in a virtual theater.
“You’re really going to feel like you're there among other people,” he added. “You won't be restricted to one platform or world.”
Mr. Zuckerberg said creating the metaverse would take work across different technology companies, new forms of governance and other elements that wouldn't come in short term but he laid out several areas where it can be applicable such as video gaming or fitness-to mention only these three examples when we see them come to fruition years from now! He showed us an immersive virtual reality based social network called 'Horizon Worlds' where we can look at our 2D Facebook friend's 3D avatars and watch them do things like play virtual video games while we play with them.
The success of your project will be partially determined by whether other developers are inspired to create new metaverse apps and programs. Users are more inclined to join new computing ecosystems if there are programs and software available for them to utilize, just as they are in the mobile app industry.
As a result, Mr. Zuckerberg stated that he would continue providing low-cost or free services to developers while increasing developer attraction through creator funds and other capital injections. Facebook has set aside $150 million for developers who develop new forms of immersive learning applications and programs.
“We are totally dedicated to this,” he added. “It is the next phase of our effort.”
The Law Of Attraction Requires An Energy Exchange by Billy Carson and Tiberius Grande
---------------
About the Blogger:
April Carson is the daughter of Billy Carson. She received her bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from Jacksonville University, where she was also on the Women's Basketball team. She now has a successful clothing company that specializes in organic baby clothes and other items. Take a look at their most popular fall fashions on bossbabymav.com
To read more of April's blogs, check out her website! She publishes new blogs on a daily basis, including the most helpful mommy advice and baby care tips! Follow on IG @bossbabymav
-------------------
LOOKING TO INVEST IN 4BIDDENKNOWLEDGE? CLICK HERE TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION AND GET INVOLVED WITH 4BIDDENKNOWLEDGE TV AND BECOME PART OF THE MOVEMENT!
CLICK THE LINK TO INVEST
ORDER YOUR BOOK TODAY!
