Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
When the company formerly known as Facebook announced its plan to rebrand last October, it also announced a new stock ticker. At the time, execs said that after ten years as FB, its NASDAQ listing would transition to MVRS for the metaverse. However, after the investment fund listed under META vacated the symbol in January, Meta Platforms quickly confirmed that it would use META instead, while at the same time announcing its first drop in daily active users, ever. Now it has filed paperwork saying the shift will become official before the market opens on June 9th (via CNBC).
Right now, people still think of Meta as the home of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, but the plan is to make it into much more than those social media mainstays. Changing the company’s name hasn’t been enough for all investors to buy into Mark Zuckerberg’s vision. Their patience is particularly short given the combination of “headwinds” (competitors, regulators, and a pandemic-stricken economy) company execs refer to when discussing various issues that strain its growth in users and profitability.
Developing content for the metaverse and augmented and virtual reality gear that will let people experience it is costing the company billions of dollars right now, with the potential payoffs still years away in the future. But as the new footer for its company statements reads, “Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.” One more branding element to drive that home might not hurt, at least while its next-generation headset is only making cameos in blurred-out demo footage.