Meta Platforms operates the world’s largest online social network under the Facebook brand.
Meta Platforms was known as Facebook, Inc. until it changed its corporate name in October 2021. The company retained Facebook as the name of its flagship social-network service while adopting Meta to emphasize a broader focus on virtual and augmented reality, immersive communication, and other technologies.
Meta’s major platforms include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. These services give the company a large global audience and support its primary advertising business. Reality Labs, its division for virtual and augmented reality products, is a separate strategic area within the company.
The name change creates a common mix-up: Facebook is both a social platform and the company’s former corporate name, while Meta Platforms is the current public company. Its stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker META.