Facebook announced on Thursday that it has changed its name to Meta.
The rebranding was unveiled during Facebook Connect, an augmented and virtual reality conference. The company’s expanding goals beyond social media are reflected in the new name.
Facebook has changed its name to Meta, which is based on the sci-fi phrase metaverse, to represent its vision for working and playing in a virtual environment.
“Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
The company also said in announcing the new name that it will change its stock ticker from FB to MVRS, effective Dec. 1.
Meta’s stock price was up more than 3% on Thursday.