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Investing.com — Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision for the future of the social media company, including a a metaverse with gaming, fitness, and educational products.
One big announcement: Facebook will change its corporate name to Meta while preserving its various brands. The company will start trading under the ticker MVRS in December.
The moves come amid renewed scrutiny of Facebook, not only for its size but also for its handing of misinformation on its platforms. A former employee who turned whistleblower recently testified to Congress that the company puts profit ahead of safety.
In a video to kick off the even Thursday, Zuckerberg said, “I know that some people will say that this isn’t a time to focus on the future, and I want to acknowledge that there are important issues to work on in the present. There always will be,”
He continued: “So for many people, I’m just not sure there ever will be a good time to focus on the future. But I also know that there are a lot of you who feel the same way that I do.”
The company’s Connect event was its eighth, where it revealed new innovations and products designed for augmented and virtual reality as part of its plans to help build a metaverse.
In his keynote speech, Zuckerberg said that the metaverse is “a ways off” but that it is “starting to take shape.”
Some of the new products mentioned were: The Horizon Marketplace where Facebook said the company will have a virtual marketplace for users to buy and sell virtual goods, Messenger calling in VR, a fitness accessories pack for Oculus, educational tools and experiences for VR, high-end VR headset codenamed Cambria, and hand and body tracking for self-expression through AR.
Facebook’s shares rose 3.5% to over $323.
Talking to reporters, Zuckerberg acknowledged that there are many issues the company is facing, and it is taking them “very seriously.”
