Facebook conceals logo at HQ ahead of name change

Facebook sets to announce new name change ahead of a rebranding effort, 18 years after

Social media giant, Facebook, has veiled the signage outside its Silicon Valley headquarters in anticipation of a name change as part of efforts at rebranding the social media company, according to a Bloomberg report cited by Forbes.

Bloomberg says Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook will announce the new name today amid intense scrutiny from regulators.

The name change will come as Facebook faces significant negative press from internal documents released by a whistleblower that has been dubbed the Facebook Papers, which have raised questions about how Facebook has handled misinformation and dangerous activities on its social media platforms, expressing reports.

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Among the claims made in the documents are that Zuckerberg “interfered” to let public figures go around the social media platform’s rules and the company did not do enough to prevent the spread of misinformation regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 U.S. presidential election and other world events. Facebook is also up against an antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission.

There are speculations that the social media giant will name itself in accordance with its new drive at providing AR to consumers especially its Metaverse project.

The company announced this month that it will hire about 10,000 developers across Europe to bring it Metaverse idea to life.

What Facebook’s new name will be. The Verge speculated that it may “signal the tech giant’s ambition to be known for more than social media and all the ills that entail.” The shift evokes memories of Google changing its company name to Alphabet in 2015 to reflect the technology giant’s wider business ventures.

Background

Facebook was founded in 2004 by Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.

Facebook’s name comes from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to Harvard students, gradually expanded to other North American universities and, since 2006, anyone over 13 years old.

In 2020, Facebook said it has 2.8 billion monthly active users and ranked seventh in global internet usage. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s