• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 28, 2021

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday announced the change of the company’s direction and name, offering a detailed vision of the metaverse, an online virtual realm where people would work, exercise, play and shop.

“We are a company that builds technology to connect,” Zuckerberg said at the company's Facebook Connect virtual conference. “Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”

Building social media apps will always be a focus, but the name Facebook cannot represent all that the company does.

Starting now, the company will be metaverse first, not Facebook first, he said. 

“Right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product,” he said. “But over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company.”

Facebook has already invested heavily in creating that new reality of shared online spaces inhabited by digital avatars, with projects ranging from virtual-reality glasses to an ecommerce platform.

Zuckerberg said it would take years for the metaverse to realize its full potential.

At Facebook Connect, Zuckerberg introduced Facebook’s Horizon platform consisting of Horizon Home, Horizon Workrooms, Horizon Worlds, and Horizon Venues shows and performances.

Avatars will represent people in the metaverse. People will have a virtual home space, with the ability to invite people over and hangout. “Teleporting around the metaverse is like clicking a link on the internet,” Zuckerberg said.