META MAGIC
Is this Facebook’s new website? Secret Meta page found after name change
FACEBOOK has changed its name to Meta – and a secret new website may already be lurking online.
The company has lived at Facebook.com and fb.com for years.
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But Facebook also owns a website called Meta.org.
If you type Meta.com, you'll also be redirected to the website.
When you go to the page, you won't find anything about Facebook.
It's actually a website owned by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
That's an organisation used by billionaire Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, former paediatrician Priscilla Chan, for philanthropy.
The couple plan to invest 99% of their wealth through the CZI over the course of their lifetimes.
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And part of the project involved seeing up Meta.org, a biomedical research tool.
Scientists can use the website to find new research from millions of different sources.
It allows them to create custom feeds to access the latest info in their fields.
But the website will soon be shut down – after launching in late 2019.
Meta makeover
As soon as Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was changing its name to Meta, a banner was posted to Meta.org declaring the imminent death of the site.
"Meta.org will sunset March 31, 2022," it reads.
"Meta will be supported through March 31, 2022. In the lead up, we will work with you in transitioning to alternative open services."
Zuckerberg and Chan have also posted a lengthy statement explaining why the service is being shuttered.
The message is vague and talks about "focusing our team" on fighting infectious disease and single-cell biology.
"[This is] ultimately bringing us closer to our shared mission to support the science and technology that will make it possible to cure, prevent or manage all disease by the end of the century," the website says.
It seems likely that Facebook will repurpose Meta.org and Meta.com as a key corporate website in the future.
But Facebook hasn't explicitly confirmed such plans
We've asked Facebook for comment and will update this with any response.
Building the metaverse
The new moniker is a catch-all for entire operation – so the name of the actual app won't change.
But Meta is now the official company brand, covering Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more.
Zuckerberg said that Meta comes from the Greek word for "beyond", and better represents the company now.
“We are a company that builds technology to connect people,” the Harvard drop-out said, announcing the company’s new name.
“Facebook was born at a specific time, a college campus, the web.
“Increasingly it just doesn’t encompass everything we do.
“Right now our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything we’re doing today, let alone in the future.”
The special event showcased the company's brand new metaverse tech, with a focus on virtual reality.
VR, augmented reality and the "metaverse" – a potentially infinite virtual world – are huge areas of investment for Facebook.
The company recently announced plans to hire an additional 10,000 staff to work on the metaverse.
“This isn’t about spending more times in screens. It’s about making the time we already spend better,” said Zuckerberg, 37, speaking about his vision for the metaverse.
“The next version of the internet can.”
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