Social media giant has Facebook is changing the name of its parent company to Meta.
The new name has been chosen in an attempt to change how the company is viewed, with the business wishing to be seen as more of a social media platform.
Its name is a reference to the company's plans to create a so-called metaverse - an online world where people can meet, play and work virtually. It will use cutting edge tech such as virtual reality (VR) headsets.
Facebook, the social media platform, will continue to have the same name.
The name change is similar to when Google changed the name of its parent company to Alphabet in 2015.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the current brand is “so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future”.
“Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” he said in a virtual conference.
“We just announced that we were making a fundamental change to our company. We’re now looking at and reporting on our business as two different segments, one for our family of apps, and one for our work on future platforms.
“And as part of this, it is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do to reflect who we are and what we hope to build.
“I am proud to announce that starting today, our company is now Meta.”
