What does “meta” mean, and why is Facebook rewriting its name?
Mark Zuckerberg has stated that his company would no longer be known as Facebook.
The rebranding is part of the company’s larger aim to create a virtual world, but opponents believe it’s a ploy to divert attention away from recent controversies.
Here’s what we know thus far about Facebook’s metamorphosis Meta.
Is Facebook getting a new name?
The Facebook company has been renamed Meta, but the Facebook social networking software will remain the same.
It’s also got a new logo (does that look similar to anyone else?).
According to a release, the name change is intended to unify the company’s “apps and technologies under one new company brand”
Since its inception in 2004, Facebook has acquired the social media apps Instagram and WhatsApp.
It has also made investments in other technologies such as Novi, a digital wallet, Portal, a video-calling gadget, and Oculus, a virtual reality system.
Meta’s rebranding also includes a focus on bringing the “metaverse” to life.
However, many believe this is really a ploy to divert attention away from the so-called Facebook papers.
Internal Facebook warnings about the negative and frequently harmful implications its social network algorithms caused or exacerbated around the world were disregarded or downplayed, according to documents stolen by a former Facebook employee.
What is the metaverse, and how does it work?
The metaverse is a virtual universe into which you may connect yourself and theoretically perform practically anything.
The concept is explored in films such as The Matrix, Ready Player One, and Tron, and it is frequently depicted as a corrupt system to which people living in a dystopian society escape (sounds like fun, right?).
Mr Zuckerberg described the metaverse as a place where people could communicate, collaborate, and create, and predicted that it will reach a billion people in the next several decades.
Despite the fact that he doesn’t expect to profit from it in the medium term, the tech magnate is behind the concept.
“This is not an investment that is going to be profitable for us any time in the near future,” Mr Zuckerberg told analysts.
“But we basically believe that the metaverse is going to be the successor to the mobile internet.”
What does the term “meta” mean?
Meta is a prefix – a word that comes before another — that signifies “after” or “beyond,” “to operate at a higher level,” or “to change.”
Metacarpus (finger bones after the wrist), metalanguage (language used to describe another language), and metamorphosis (a change of form).
However, in popular culture, it is used to denote when something is self-aware.
This can be seen in films and television shows that break the fourth wall by doing something that acknowledges the audience’s presence.
The comedy series Community, however, is the best example of meta.
The show perfected meta throughout its six seasons, incorporating aspects of the performers’ religion into their characters, paying homage to other series with themed episodes, and even identifying itself as a show by “doing a bottle episode.”
Rick and Morty, which is co-written by Dan Harmon, the same writer who created Community, is another example of a show that becomes meta.
Tina Fey’s show 30 Rock was recognised for its meta references, especially when Fey’s character Liz Lemon approached advertisers directly after a product placement, “Can we have our money now?”