Meta Platforms created Facebook and changed its corporate name from Facebook, Inc. in 2021.
The company announced the name Meta on October 28, 2021, saying the new identity reflected a broader focus on building the metaverse. Facebook remained the name of the social-networking service, while Meta became the parent company for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and other products.
Meta’s business is primarily supported by digital advertising delivered across its apps. It also develops virtual-reality and mixed-reality hardware and software through Reality Labs.
The company was founded as TheFacebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard students. Its corporate rebranding did not mean that Facebook itself disappeared; it remained one of Meta’s flagship platforms.