ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — By now, you've probably heard about CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing the new name for Facebook.
The new name they've chosen to reorganize under is "Meta," but what does that even mean?
According to Dictionary.com, meta in Greek means "beyond." The U.S. Sun explains "Meta" plans to create a next-gen "metaverse" internet through this new branding.
Zuckerberg reportedly said the new name represents the company better now.
“We are a company that builds technology to connect people," he said during Facebook's Connect keynote speech. “Facebook was born at a specific time, a college campus, the web. Increasingly it just doesn’t encompass everything we do."
So now what does "metaverse" mean?
That term is the latest buzzword to capture the tech industry's imagination.
Zuckerberg described it as a "virtual environment" people can go inside of instead of just looking at a screen.
Essentially, it's a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities where people can meet, work and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices.
It's a concept that blends augmented reality and virtual reality together, Deseret News explains. The metaverse provides people with the future of the internet.
On the other hand, Forward explains "Meta" is the feminine form of "is dead" in Hebrew.
Even with this little hiccup, Zuckerberg is going big on what he sees as the next generation of the internet because he thinks it's going to be a major part of the digital economy.