Meta-Morphosis: Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse

The Story

CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced the renaming of Facebook's parent company to Meta. Meta will trade under the new ticker symbol 'MVRS' on the Nasdaq*.

Meta's corporate structure and its apps and technologies will not be affected. However, its earnings will be reported under two segments from the fourth quarter onwards; one will comprise its traditional apps such as Facebook and Instagram, and the other will be its Reality Labs (CNBC).

The company’s hardware division, Reality Labs, is responsible for its virtual reality efforts. This includes the Oculus virtual-reality headsets and Project Nazare - the first "fully-fledged augmented reality glasses" (CNBC; Financial Times). Research and development costs for Reality Labs will balloon as it hits $10 billion next year and adds 10,000 employees in Europe.

The term ‘metaverse’ was coined by Neal Stephenson in his science fiction novel Snow Crash, and refers to a shared virtual realm where humans can interact as avatars. Stephenson, and now Zuckerberg, see it as “the successor to the internet” (MSN). At the annual Connect conference – the company’s annual developer conference for the augmented and virtual reality community – Zuckerberg said that “right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future.” (MSN; Euronews)

What it Means for Businesses and Law Firms

Meta's reputation has become tarnished as it faces accusations over mishandling user data and poor policing of abuses such as hate speech and health misinformation. The Federal Trade Commission has also filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company.

Recently, a former Facebook product manager and whistleblower leaked internal documents alleging proof that the company repeatedly chose profit over safety (New York Times). Critics further argue that the name change “doesn’t suddenly erase the systemic issues plaguing the company” (Reuters). Zuckerberg denies allegations that the rebrand is an attempt to distract from the company’s recent failings.

Meta’s stock price increased following Zuckerberg’s announcement (CNBC). However, concerns remain over how security checks will be built into the metaverse, as well as the new types of user data that might be generated (for instance, the gathering of biometric data when users create their avatars). Importantly, this is an opportunity for lawmakers and regulators to intervene in an early stage of new technology.

Looking to the future, as Linklaters' former managing partner considers, perhaps the metaverse will one day help law firms with remote working (Legal Futures).

* The Nasdaq is the second-largest stock exchange in the world and where you'll find the big tech giants listed. Facebook is trading as 'MVRS' as 'META' is already taken by another fund. These letters are known as ticker symbols and help investors to identify publicly-listed stocks.