Justin Timberlake famously told Facebook to drop “The” from its name in its early days*.
Social media behemoth Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name next week.
The new name will reflect its focus on building the metaverse, The Verge reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will reportedly announce the name change at the company’s annual Connect conference on 28 October, although it may be revealed sooner than that.
The report from The Verge stated the rebrand would likely position Facebook’s social media app as one of many products under a parent company, which will also oversee groups like Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more.
Google already operates a similar structure with its Alphabet parent.
A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment, stating the company doesn’t “comment on rumour or speculation”.
The rebranding news comes a day after the company announced in a blog post that it will be hiring around 10,000 people from within the EU to fill highly skilled roles working on Horizon Worlds, a 3D virtual play space, over the next five years.
Facebook also faced criticism recently from whistleblower France Haugen, who told US Congress the company put “astronomical profits before people” and that it harms children and destabilises democracy.
*Justin Timberlake did not in fact do this, but a character he played in the movie The Social Network did.
