Facebook stops just short of rebranding to ‘The Web’

Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta today. Facebook.com is still Facebook.com, though. This is a move to embrace the metaverse, which is a concept that many tech-industry executives and investors view as the future of the internet. But it also feels like a poorly timed attempt to capitalize on a buzzword that has already lost much of its meaning.

Aspirationally, the metaverse is an alternate reality that lives online. Functionally, however, the metaverse is a platform or series of platforms that share interoperable code to enable individuals to carry their online identities and (more importantly) their purchases from one experience to the next.