Sources: Mark Zuckerberg has not settled on a new name for Facebook, which could be announced as early as Monday

See you Monday! — Facebook is changing its name. Perhaps you heard. The news was broken by Alex Heath of The Verge on Tuesday night, and I've since confirmed it with sources of my own.

Platformer 2021-10-21 Casey Newton

Context & Ripple Effects

The reported renaming follows plans to recast the corporate identity around the metaverse ahead of Facebook's Connect conference. Zuckerberg had not yet settled on the final label, making the name itself the remaining decision rather than the direction of the change.

Related coverage later attributes the move to staff objections and research into a brand tax on apps carrying the “from Facebook” label. The rebrand therefore matters as an effort to separate the company identity from its flagship app.

First-order effects

A Monday announcement would give Facebook a distinct corporate label while leaving Facebook as the name of its main app, addressing the shared-name awkwardness described in Zuckerberg's later rebranding interview.
Teams and apps using the “from Facebook” label would gain a basis for moving to the new corporate branding, directly targeting the internal and product-brand concern cited in related coverage.

Second-order effects

Facebook's metaverse messaging would be attached to the parent company rather than solely to the social-network app, changing how the company presents that strategy to users, employees, and partners.
The separation gives Facebook more room to market its other apps without carrying the Facebook name that related research associated with a brand penalty.

Third-order effects

If other large consumer platforms follow this parent-brand/app-brand split, corporate identity may become a tool for insulating adjacent products from the reputational baggage of a flagship service.
The episode points to a broader restructuring of platform brands around product portfolios and future-facing initiatives, rather than a single consumer app.

The trend: Large platforms are increasingly separating parent-company identity from their flagship apps to support new strategic bets and manage brand spillover.

Discussion

Vox Shirin Ghaffary on x
Facebook's name change plan reflects its real priorities
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Re: new Facebook name: “The web address https://meta.com/ currently redirects to https://t.co/..., the home of a biomedical research discovery tool developed under the stewardship of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.” 👀 https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@udiwertheimer @udiwertheimer on x
facebook's insistence on launching a cryptocurrency + becoming a “metaverse” means one thing zuckerberg had enough of running a company he wants to run a country
@matt_levine Matt Levine on x
lol what if facebook changes its name to FACEBOOK https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@jack Jack⚡️ on x
Central Intelligence Corporation
@inafried Ina Fried on x
Dear Facebook: We've received your request to change your name. However, due to our real names policy, you will first need to fax us a copy of your court order and new driver's license....
@bcmerchant Brian Merchant on x
The best reference point for thinking about Facebook's name change probably isn't when Google switched to Alphabet in 2015—it's when BP rebranded to Beyond Petroleum in the 2000s https://twitter.com/...
@jyarow Jay Yarow on x
Coin flip time. https://twitter.com/...
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
I think this is what happened to Elon before he named his kid X Æ A-Xii https://twitter.com/...
@carlquintanilla Carl Quintanilla on x
Some odds on Facebook's new name: (via @SportsBettingAG) $FB https://mobile.sportsbetting.ag/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Rumor has it the embargo is for Monday. Facebook reports earnings on Monday, which would be a good time to announce a name change. https://twitter.com/...
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
there's only one name that has the vitality, the aesthetics, the sheer undiluted sprezzatura to be appropriate for Facebook's rebrand: https://twitter.com/...
@tallneil @tallneil on x
someone (FB) has been doing a massive land grab of every “meta” domain over the past 6-8mo. several uncommon TLDs like https://meta.accountant/ were updated in the last 1mo. it's gonna be META. https://twitter.com/...
@rohanv Rohan Venkat on x
Remarkably, @CaseyNewton says “CEO Mark Zuckerberg has not settled on a final name.” Perfect conditions for a properly awful rebrand. Maybe they should call it, um, Libra. https://www.platformer.news/ ...
@amyklobuchar Amy Klobuchar on x
Or you could just fix your company. https://twitter.com/...
@jonstewart Jon Stewart on x
Dear Facebook- have you thought about the name Phillip Morris? I think it's available. Your welcome
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
Facebook can change their name, but it doesn't make a difference until they change their habits of prioritizing profit over the wellbeing of children. https://www.forbes.com/...
@ryanlawler Ryan Lawler on x
‘Trying to own the metaverse narrative runs the risk of souring people to the entire concept’ https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
Young Zuck has grown to hideous dimensions. Whatever they call it, IT is too big, too powerful, too unaccountable and deeply untrustworthy. It is not a benign organization and it is cold and indifferent towards any concept of the public good. Maybe the name should be AMERIZUCKED
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
Facebook will rebrand. It will have a new name. The name is a secret. Even the most senior people do not know the new secret name. Silicon Valley PR flacks are abuzz. It's smart, textbook. All the best PR and Comms firms are on it. It will be like magic. A new name and POOF! 1/
@jacksondame Dame.eth on x
reminder: they're most likely renaming the parent company — not the actual Facebook website people use similar to how Google was renamed Alphabet https://twitter.com/...
@duty2warn @duty2warn on x
Mark Zuckerberg: “We will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company.” People see the Facebook as an ANTI-social media company, Mark, because you are destroying our society with misinformation.
@amrith @amrith on x
@wongmjane @CaseyNewton They even own @meta on Twitter hmmm
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Hey guys, dibs on Epic MegaVerse, just FYI. https://www.theverge.com/...
@ron_miller Ron Miller on x
Excellent reporting. Absolutely killer quotes. https://twitter.com/...
@duty2warn @duty2warn on x
Mark Zuckerberg said: “We will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company.” We think he confused “metaverse” with “megalomania.”
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Fresh details about the FB rebrand: - Move has been under discussion seriously for at least a 2 months; casually for 3+ years - The final name *appears not to be chosen*; - Some are saying Zuckerberg is now leaning *away* from Meta /metaverse branding https://platformer.news/...
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
tribes who have succumb to the lies of division and disunion won't stop. In the end, it is all nonsense. I think Zuckerberg's vision of the “Metaverse” is monstrous and frightening and there should be some deep reflection as a society about the implications of all this.
@danyork Dan York on x
Fascinating to see huge number of sites writing about Facebook's reported plans to *change their name* next week. It shows massive role of a single company (or maybe people are tired of writing about Apple & Google 😀) Seen on @Techmeme - https://www.techmeme.com/... #consolidatio…
@laurengoode Lauren Goode on x
“The most effective way for Facebook to address the challenges that have tainted its brand recently is through corrective actions, not trying to change its name or installing a new brand architecture.” via @pardesoteric https://www.wired.com/...
@calcsam Sam Bhagwat on x
Corporate restructuring motivated by antitrust concerns: first Google, then Amazon, now Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@levynews Ari Levy on x
Truth Social is rebranding as Facebook
@jason @jason on x
Fairly obvious Zuckerberg is going to create a corporate holding company like Google did (Alphabet), then promote or hire a CEO and make himself Chairman. Then, like Larry Page and Jeff Bezos, he won't have to show up for any hearings ith the Senate, Congress, EU, etc.
@quinnypig @quinnypig on x
Sounds like he needs to borrow one of @awscloud's Service Namers. https://twitter.com/...
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
What? The threats to democracy go away? The algorithmic poisoning of people with misinformation, conspiracies and insanity doesn't stop with a new name. The spread of extremism isn't slowed by a new name. The damage done to children and the fracturing of society into hateful
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
The rebrand is telling though, it cracks open a window into the psychology of Facebook's leadership. They believe they have a communications problem, an optics problem, not a runaway train issue. The truth is the power of a dorm room creation built to rate the looks of women by
@dcwomenkicknass @dcwomenkicknass on x
They should change their name to Qanon and take credit for the hellhole they created https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
So looks like “TRUTH Social” is out of the running as a name for the Facebook rebrand.
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
@CaseyNewton $ whois https://meta.com/ Updated Date: 2021-10-19T23:55:23Z https://twitter.com/...
@martinsfp Martin Sfp Bryant on x
It's already a Zuckerberg project so, not a bad call for the Facebook rebrand and they already have the .com: So... Meta? https://twitter.com/...
@nycsouthpaw Southpaw on x
Rebrand ideas: Zuckerbook Faceplaces Visage Garage The League of Shadows
@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
That'll fix it 🙄 https://twitter.com/...
@suhail @suhail on x
“Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name to focus on building the metaverse” Bold or silly—I wouldn't underestimate Zuck.
@jyarow Jay Yarow on x
Nobody calls Alphabet Alphabet. They call it Google. Seems like a big waste of time/money to try to rebrand as a parent company. https://twitter.com/...
@levie Aaron Levie on x
Zuckerberg is about to do “new phone, who dis?” on a scale never seen before.

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