TECH GIANT

Facebook name change is imminent, report says

Facebook intends to change its name, according to a report by US technology website The Verge. Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa.
Mark Zuckerberg is expected to announce the decision at the company's Connect conference on 28 October

Facebook intends to change its name, according to a report by US technology website The Verge published on Wednesday.

Considered well-connected in the tech world, The Verge cited a source "with direct knowledge of the matter" in its story.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is expected to announce the decision at the company's Connect conference on 28 October.

The change is believed to herald the tech giant's ambition to be known for more than just social media.

According to the report, the group's rebrand would likely position Facebook as just one of many products under a parent company overseeing other tech giants currently owned by Facebook such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus.

Create jobs in EU

Facebook declined to comment on the rumours on Wednesday.

Facebook plans to create 10,000 new high-skilled jobs in the European Union over the next five years to build the so-called metaverse, the company announced in a blog post on Monday.

The metaverse is an umbrella term for a theoretical future iteration of the internet which is made up of shared 3D virtual spaces linked together to form a virtual world.