Out Goes Facebook in comes Meta

Meta, the new kid on the block, the talk of town, the hottest topic there has been since the great depression, but how necessary is that?

The fact that the word Meta is treated as one of the Holy Trinity is in itself a joke. You might not have been a mathematical enthusiast to meet meta in the formulae description “meta-X equals X about X”, you could have met it in the word metaphysics instead, or meta-economy, or anywhere along the streets on your way to work, but you chose not to and now the word has earned its rightful place in your vocabulary.

What then is meta? Well, it’s metaverse, isn’t it?

Yeah, I know, you want more information and information I shall give. Metaverse is a speculative future iteration of the Internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe.

The keywords here being SPECULATIVE and PERCEIVED. That should in fact give you a hint on the kind of ride we are about to be taken to if Mark and his crew pull this off. If they don't, well, it shall have been a beautiful dream and an illustration of human capabilities, but I doubt if it will get there.

For gaming lovers, Meta is an acronym for “most effective tactics available,” meaning that it’s the most effective way to achieve the goal of the game, whether it’s to beat other players or beat the game itself. Meta can also be short for metagame, which is using information about the game, derived from the world beyond the game or its rules, to influence the outcome of the game or gain a competitive edge, but our focus isn't games, today is it?

In layman’s terms, metaverse is where the physical and digital worlds come together to create awesomeness. This being actualized would literally mean a change in human social interactions, we will attend virtual meetings and feel like we are physically present. The focus shall be on building virtual reality products that connect users through a different medium.

See the world is not sleeping, you just need to be interested and look in the right places to find what exactly you are looking for.

What is this fuss about facebook changing to meta?

First, it's just a rebrand. People change their name all the time for different reasons and I've never seen it make the headlines. No hard feelings but I think Facebook can call itself whatever they want, I mean, was there any form of opinion poll before it launched? No one other than its founders neither cared or believed in Facebook before it became what it is today.

Second, you will not be deprived of the name Facebook. You can still use it as much as you want, nobody cares what you call it. See, these guys over at Facebook own Instagram and WhatsApp, yet i haven't heard anyone bickering them.

Let’s make things clear, you love Facebook, I know it because you haven’t deactivated your account just yet, and you probably won't, Meta will be the company that owns it, Meta shall the umbrella that Facebook(the app), WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger rests under. Just like Alphabet houses Google.

What this means outright is that the social media platforms won't change, the usability and structure shall remain, the name of the company is what changes forthwith.

Why change?

"From now on we are going to be Metaverse first, not Facebook," Zuckerberg said during a keynote address at the company's annual developer's conference. "I hope that people come to know the Meta brand and the future that we stand for." Though these were his exact words, I doubt if he believed them, no one would understand what they stand for, at least not now.

"Right now, our 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," he said, which is an explanation enough. The company was simply extending its reach beyond the realm of the iconic social media empire he already runs.

Was the timing right?

Well, the timing of this change is the main reason it's controversial, nothing to do with the idea behind the whole thing or the structure. Launched when Facebook is the center of the Public Relations crisis thanks to the revelations of Frances Haugen, but metaverse can use this to their advantage and ride on Facebook’s trying times, maybe they are already.

Were it not for those allegations, meta might probably not have enjoyed the attention they are getting now.

However they handle this situation will be a huge determinant on the success of this futuristic project, I honestly would like to see this take off, the kind of experience Metaverse will offer the users is simply insane, and the fact that you will get to decide when you want to be with other people, when you want to block someone from appearing in your space or when you want to take a break and teleport to a private place to be alone reason enough to embrace it

It is hard to know whether Metaverse will be a success, but it's even harder to see it not succeeding. Billions of dollars have already been spent on this project that its failure will be a catastrophe, the conglomerate has more to lose if Metaverse fails than if it succeeds.

Facebook generates billions though, so whatever has been spent and will be spent shall definitely be within their budget. Whatever the figures involved are.

Facebook’s trust deficit is real, its ratings are at all-time low thanks to the Facebook Papers claims, but for such multinationals, this might just be a passing storm.

The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do, says Steve Jobs, the man who actually changed the world, so why not give Zuckerberg the benefit of doubt and let him do his thing?