In addition to changing the name of the company to Meta, Facebook is also changing its future focus. Ultimately, Meta's goal is to enable people to connect, find communities, and grow businesses by bringing the metaverse to life.
Will the move to the metaverse have an impact on publishers as the company moves beyond its social media roots?
Reactions within the industry.
As far as the industry is concerned, Facebook's name change and fresh focus on the metaverse have provoked mixed reactions.
According to some observers, Facebook's investment in the metaverse signals its intention to develop as a technology company and expand beyond its legacy business.
Some simply believe it is a distraction designed to move focus away from the recent scandals plaguing the company.
Meta, not just for Facebook, but marketing as a whole, is seen as a positive by some marketers.
Creating rich motivational data and providing easy access to consumers are the keys to the success of the metaverse in the future.
Diversion of industry attention.
Those who oppose the name-change are also upset that the announcement comes the same week as The Facebook Papers exposes more of the company's decisions to prioritise profit over public good.
Furthermore, there have been questions asked about whether a business model based on undeveloped virtual reality and focusing on a young audience is sustainable.
Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has been dogged by controversy, and recent claims have been made regarding the lack of action on research that suggests it causes social harms.
The evidence suggests that Facebook ignored negative findings in favor of developments that contributed to its bottom line.
Meta's move to the metaverse could
indicate that Facebook is stepping back from advertising and instead focusing on service revenues for the long term.
Publishers who are dependent on any
Facebook feature that relies on advertising should take note.
A strong play was made at the launch of
Meta by Zuckerberg for a younger audience. But should publishers also be concerned with the objective of re-connecting with youth?
Some believe that Facebook's efforts to
replace the older generation of Facebook users with the younger and more secretive generation might just be placing them on the path to failure.
