Even those who are not on Facebook have already heard that Facebook has changed its name to Meta. But there are two points here. One is not important at all. The other is the opposite.

The first is that the name was changed not by the social network, but by the organization that manages Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Something similar happened to Google, whose parent company is now called Alphabet.

And the other important thing is why Meta. Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the organization is starting the process of creating Metaverse, the meta-universe. This was followed by an announcement that Facebook would hire tens of thousands of specialists to create the meta-universe. Which, in all probability, will become a working model in the next five years.

So, the name change speaks about the fact that these plans are becoming a priority, and we must understand that we are dealing with serious changes, about which we must already be aware.

We are talking about merging virtual domains.

Zuckerberg’s team will try to unite the existing Internet, virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) domains and create a common platform where different virtual Internet domains will be able to connect.

There are already people moving in such a direction. It is not that Zuckerberg was the first to come up with such an idea. For example, in the Fortnite game area, Epic Games tries to include elements from other domains. For example, it holds concerts of real musicians in the virtual game space. These are the first steps in this direction.

It will be easier for Meta, formerly known as Facebook, to become a leader in the formation of the meta-universe. Since we are dealing not only with Meta but also with the mega-corporation, which unites Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

This is an organization that manages the Internet activities of about 3.5 billion people.

In addition, it is an organization that has been developing the virtual reality domain for many years, for which it has special development models, such as Oculus.

Of course, what Zuckerberg and his team are trying to do can really be the next stage in the development of the Internet. Especially since other internet giants are starting to work in such a direction now.

But if we do not see qualitative changes now, because the meta-universe is still being programmed, then Zuckerberg’s ambitions to have a common platform for different phenomena have been realized for a long time.

Facebook itself is an attempt to create a domain that will unite other parts of the Internet.

In fact, over the last five or six years, Zuckerberg has tried to create a single domain that unites Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, which should be an alternative Internet. 

That is to say, a space where a person will enter and never leave.

The same Instant articles tool allows websites to disconnect from the main Internet and keep visitors in the Facebook area. Zuckerberg’s expansionism, buying other companies has always spoken of only one thing: to absorb all possible domains and become an alternative to the accepted Internet.

This policy will most likely leave its mark on the architecture of the multiverse as well.

In any case, given the momentum of Meta, the impact on a huge number of people and the versatility of that impact, this decision could lead to a major qualitative change for the entire Internet.

On the other hand, to create a basis for the development of a highly one-sided, controllable Internet.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that Meta already manifests itself as a very influential mega-structure shaping public processes, which often attributes itself to a state, and sometimes even a role above states.

This can be seen from the recently leaked internal documents, which have already been named Facebook Papers, and the scandal around them will gain new momentum.

Samvel Martirosyan

The views expressed in the column are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Media.am.