Facebook could be changing its name next week

In an exclusive by The Verge, Facebook is planning to change its name to reflect its focus on establishing the metaverse.

The Verge Senior Reporter Alex Heath cites a source with direct knowledge on the matter.

The upcoming name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg hopes to discuss at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th but could be announced sooner, is designed to signify the internet giant’s aim to be known for more than just social media and all of its associated problems.

The makeover would most likely present the blue Facebook app as one of many products managed by a parent business that also oversees Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and other companies. A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment for this article.

The new Facebook corporate name, according to The Verge, is a highly guarded secret within Facebook’s gates and is not widely recognized, even within the firm’s whole top leadership. Horizon, the name of the still-unreleased VR version of Facebook-meets-Roblox that the business has been creating for the past few years, may be a contender. Shortly after Facebook demoed a version for workplace collaboration dubbed Horizon Workrooms, the app’s name was changed to Horizon Worlds.

Facebook isn’t the only well-known technology business to change its name as its goals grow. Google reorganized altogether under the Alphabet holding company in 2015, partly to show that it was no longer just a search engine, but a global conglomerate with subsidiaries developing self-driving cars and health-care technology. In 2016, Snapchat changed its name to Snap Inc., the same year it began referring to itself as a “camera company” and unveiled its first set of Spectacles camera spectacles.

Facebook unveiled plans earlier this week to hire 10,000 workers in the European Union to help construct the “metaverse,” a virtual reality version of the internet that the tech giant sees as the way of the future.