At Connect 2021 earlier today (October 29), Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta, which brings together its apps and technologies under one new company brand.
Meta’s focus will be to “bring the metaverse to life” and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses.
The metaverse will feel like a hybrid of today’s online social experiences, sometimes expanded into three dimensions or projected into the physical world.
It will let you share immersive experiences with other people even when you can’t be together — and do things together you couldn’t do in the physical world. It’s the next evolution in a long line of social technologies, and it’s ushering in a new chapter for our company.
Zuckerberg shared more about this vision in a founder’s letter.
The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence — like you are right there with another person or in another place. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology. That is why we are focused on building this.
… The metaverse will not be created by one company. It will be built by creators and developers making new experiences and digital items that are interoperable, and unlock a massively larger creative economy than the one constrained by today’s platforms and their policies.
– Mark Zuckerberg
The company’s role in this journey is to accelerate the development of the fundamental technologies, social platforms and creative tools to bring the metaverse to life, and to weave these technologies through its social media apps.
“We believe the metaverse can enable better social experiences than anything that exists today, and we will dedicate our energy to help achieve its potential.”
As highlighted in the original founder’s letter, the company does not set out to build services to make money. “We make money to build better services” instead,” he stressed.
The metaverse is the next frontier in connecting people
Sharing more about the company, Zuckerberg said that from day one, it has always been focused on connecting people. Particularly, building technology so people can interact with one another.
Today, we’re seen as a social media company. Facebook is one of the most used technology products in the history of the world. It’s an iconic social media brand.
Building social apps will always be important for us and there’s a lot more to build. But increasingly, it’s not all we do. In our DNA, we build technology to bring people together. The metaverse is the next frontier in connecting people, just like social networking was when we got started.
– Mark Zuckerberg
Currently, the company is looking at and reporting on its business as two different segments: one for its family of apps, and another for its work on future platforms.
Their work on the metaverse is not just one of these segments — it encompasses both the social experiences and future technology. As the company broadens its vision, it’s also time for them to adopt a new brand.
Moving forward, the company mission remains the same, which is about designing technology to bring people together.
But all of its products now share a new vision: to help bring the metaverse to life. “From now on, we will be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first,” he said.
“That means that over time, you won’t need a Facebook account to use our other services. As our new brand starts showing up in our products, I hope people around the world come to know the Meta brand and the future we stand for.”
As someone who used to study Classics, Zuckerberg explained that the word “meta” derives from the Greek word meaning “beyond”.
“For me, it symbolises that there is always more to build, and there is always a next chapter to the story. Ours is a story that started in a dorm room and grew beyond anything that we imagined. … I’m proud of what we’ve built so far, and I’m excited about what comes next — as we move beyond what’s possible today.”
“We have built things that have brought people together in new ways. We’ve learned from struggling with difficult social issues and living under closed platforms. Now it is time to take everything we’ve learned and help build the next chapter.”
Get $20 off your order on VP Label when you checkout with Pace and the code PACEVP20 (min spend $80). Discover and shop exciting homegrown brands now:
Featured Image Credit: The Verge
