The rebranding of Facebook Inc to Meta represents a game changer for the tech industry, but could possibly be another negative shift in social interaction, according to the Analysts on last week’s edition of Taking Stock LIVE with Kalilah Reynolds. 

There have been mixed views about the move, which comes amidst criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over the company’s market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its services.

The company said they’re however focusing on building the “metaverse” – CEO Mark Zuckerburg’s vision of a virtual reality world that will be the successor to the internet.

Financial Coach, Founder and CEO of Profit Jumpstarter, Keisha Bailey.

For Financial Coach, Founder and CEO of Profit Jumpstarter, Keisha Bailey it’s exciting news, with the company basically changing its strategic focus to go into the 3D realm, away from the current 2D space now being overrun with social apps, including the ones they own, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

She defines the Metaverse as the future iteration of the internet with persistent shared 3D virtual spaces where people will be linked into a virtual universe.

“Think about a world where you’re calling someone and you’re actually in a 3D universe standing in front of them, that’s where Meta is going, providing connections in that 3D space…I look forward to it because I know that’s where the future is and that’s where tech is ultimately going,” she said.

Meta has been investing heavily in augmented and virtual reality. With the change, its apps and technologies have been brought together as subsidiaries under one new brand. The corporate structure and app names have not changed.

The restructure follows a similar move by Google in 2015 with that company now a subsidiary of a parent company called Alphabet. 

Bailey pointed out that Google’s restructure proved beneficial for their share price over the long term, hinting that Meta could experience the same fate. However, she said it’s still early days.

The company’s shares were trading around US$335 mid week, seven points above where it was on October 21 when the rebranding was announced.

Assistant General Manager of Trading and Treasury at Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB), Greig Lindo

Assistant general manager of Trading & Treasury at JMMB, Greig Lindo, said people tend to bet heavily on the future as evidenced by the performance of Tesla shares on the US market.

He said he’s looking forward to seeing how the situation will play out for the company as more people catch on to the concept of the metaverse and understand its potential.

However, on the downside, Lindo cautioned that the augmented virtual reality space could further impact how we socialize. The pandemic has already forced us to limit interactions. 

“Now you won’t need to see people physically. I don’t know what’s that going to do with social interaction because there’s already the pundits that say too much social media is not good and it’s taking away human contact so this is probably 2.0,” he said.

“But to see how they actually link it and how they can actually improve people’s lives, with that being the whole objective, it’s going to be interesting times ahead,” he added.

Meanwhile, Business Writer at the Observer, David Rose said the rebranding solidifies the company’s status as a social platform, with the company already recording between one and three million logins across its platforms every month.

Business Writer at Jamaica Observer, David Rose.

“Facebook still gets a strong blowup in its current form so for them to shift early in this 3D world, because they have Oracle which is their virtual reality subsidiary, kind of indicates that they are trying to build out the space before people ask for it,” he reasoned.

Meta intends to start trading under the new stock ticker, MVRS, on December 1. 

Catch THE ANALYSTS on Taking Stock LIVE with Kalilah Reynolds, Tuesdays at 8pm on YouTube. 

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