In the midst of turmoil, Facebook renames itself "Meta"

Stop talking about Facebook, say Meta now. Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the new name of his group this Thursday during a virtual conference, centered on the metaverse. This name helps to “better reflect who we are,” said the CEO. The group has also adopted a new logo, a sign representing infinity, slightly deformed to evoke the letter M.

For several months, the founder of the social network has been talking about his ambitions for the metaverse, this new generation internet, where users will one day be able to circulate in the form of avatars, play sports, meet friends or work. “In the future, we want to be seen as a metaverse company,” he insisted on Thursday.

The group is already marketing a virtual reality headset that will allow a more immersive experience in this universe. The company is also counting on this name change to modernize its brand image, at a time when the youngest often prefer its competitors TikTok and Snapchat. The markets welcomed the ambition of Facebook, whose action - renamed Meta - climbed 1.5% at the close.

VIDEO. Facebook will change its name to Meta, announces Mark Zuckerberg

major crisis

The success of this strategy “depends essentially on consumer confidence,” deciphers Mike Proulx, vice president and director of research at Forrester. “However, a survey we conducted shows that less than half (41%) of adults in the United States trust Facebook. In the UK it's only 26%. If the majority of people don't trust the social network, why would they trust it to build the metaverse? »

The name change comes at a time when Facebook is facing a reputational crisis. A former employee, Frances Haugen, had access to tens of thousands of documents that shed harsh light on many issues with the platform. After a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal, the whistleblower forwarded these documents to the US Congress, the SEC, a financial regulator and other media.

These documents show in particular that the researchers employed by Facebook are concerned about the impact of Instagram on the mental health of certain adolescents, but also that the firm invests much less in the moderation of content published outside the United States. A breach that has been exploited by drug or human traffickers.

Unsurprisingly, Mark Zuckerberg dismisses the idea that the new name is meant to distract from Facebook's current problems. "I think it's a ridiculous idea," he told The Verge ahead of the conference. “On the contrary, I don't think that's the kind of atmosphere in which you want to announce a new brand”.

Massive investment

For the CEO, the new name aims above all to reflect the evolution of the group. This year, Facebook will invest 10 billion dollars in the metaverse, which represents approximately one month of revenue for the Californian firm. The group has also announced its intention to recruit 10,000 people in Europe in five years to work on the development of this virtual world.

During the conference, Mark Zuckerberg detailed his vision for the metaverse, while admitting that it will be a long road to get there. The company will soon present a new virtual reality headset, more expensive and more advanced than the Oculus Quest 2. It could also launch augmented reality objects, even if the first model of connected glasses, launched by Facebook in September, does not yet have such capabilities.

Beyond the electronic hardware, engineers at Facebook are also working on software aimed, for example, at creating avatars that are as realistic as possible. This presents a whole series of technical challenges to represent hands, clothing or facial expressions.

Group reorganization

On October 25, the group had already announced that it would change the way it publishes its results, presenting separately the revenues of its family of applications (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp) and its future investments in the metaverse.

The boss said he learned from his mistakes, assuring that the metaverse would be built "responsibly" from the start. He used the conference to send a jab at rival Apple, saying he "came to the conclusion that lack of choice and high prices are stifling innovation, stopping people from building new things, and stunting the whole economy." digital”.

The new Apple?

By contributing to the growth of the metaverse, Facebook hopes to benefit from advantages similar to those of Apple or Google today. Tim Cook's firm decided last year that iPhone users could choose whether or not to be tracked for advertising purposes, which has put Facebook's revenue at risk.

Mark Zuckerberg's group would like to have more control over how its users access its services. "At some point in the next decade, there's going to be a new platform," Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik told Bloomberg. "So their vision is that when things change, we want to be the new Apple or Google."