Facebook, the world’s largest social networking platform, has changed its company name to Meta pot Meta Platforms in an apparent surprise decision.

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CRO of Facebook, announced the new platform, which would bring together apps and technology under one unified business identity.

However, for users of the company’s social media services – Instagram and Whatsapp, in addition to Facebook – essentially nothing will change. The names of the websites and applications they utilise will remain the same.

“Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started,” Zuckerberg said announcing the name change.

What would be of interest to the typical user of the Facebook – called Meta – brand is that there would be no discernible changes as a result of the name change. According to Zuckerberg’s announcement, no changes in how the applications are used, neither the addition of new features or layouts are currently taking place.

“Our apps and their brands aren’t changing either. We’re still the company that designs technology around people,” Zuckerberg said.

According to analysts and experts, one of the main reasons for the name change is Facebook’s attempt to reinvent itself, especially since its operations have been attacked and examined by governments and critics since the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

One of the reasons for the name change, according to Zuckerberg, is that the firm no longer wanted to be known just as a social network company. It now hopes to be known as a technological firm with a diverse portfolio of goods and apps.

“The new platform will be even more immersive, users will be able to do almost anything they can imagine. He said that people can get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create on the meta platform,” says Zuckerberg in his Founder’s letter.

In recent years, Facebook’s brand has taken a number of strikes to its reputation.

Whatever explanations Zuckerberg gives for the name change, it is apparent that the company’s name change is influenced by disputes and bad externalities.

Even before the recent outage and whistle-blowing event, charges that the corporation remained dormant while its platform was exploited to propagate disinformation had already eroded lawmakers’ and consumers’ faith in the firm.

There are also rumours that Facebook is concerned that privacy problems relating to its platforms may threaten its primary source of income.

Its ad-driven approach, which is based on the data of its users, has been closely scrutinised.

Concerns about how the corporation utilises its massive database of user data have been raised by politicians in the United States, Europe, and internationally.

Facebook’s data privacy, content moderation, and competitor rules have all sparked debate. However, the massive trove of documents, as well as the numerous stories that will undoubtedly emerge from it, have raised concerns and problems in almost every aspect of the company’s operations, including its approach to combating hate speech and misinformation, managing international growth, protecting younger users on its platform, and even its ability to accurately measure the size of its massive database.

Zuckerberg was also aware of the “privacy” and “security” concerns that had been plaguing him and the firm, and when announcing the name change, he stated that “privacy” and “security” measures must be integrated into the Metaverse from the start. “You’ll be able to choose when you want to be with other people, when you want to block someone from entering your space, or when you want to take a break and teleport to a private spot to be alone,” Zuckerberg explained.

However, as nothing in “Meta’s” current product offering will change, doubts about Zuckerberg and his company’s capacity to manage the potential for real-world harm from the massive platforms will continue to be raised.

(Adapted from IndiaToday.in)