Mark Zuckerberg’s new company, Meta Platforms Inc., a parent corporate entity housing Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp, made its first step into corporate existence back in 2017.

The 2017 purchase of meta.org, a biomedical research tool that analyses and connects millions of scientific outputs was the first step towards a shift in the Facebook Inc. brand.

Prior to acquiring meta.org, the Zuckerbergs said they intended making the platform free for researchers for 10 years, to help aid research work.

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However, following the announcement of the Meta company, meta.org now has a header that reads: “Meta.org will sunset March 31, 2022: Meta will be supported through March 31, 2022. In the lead up, we will work with you in transitioning to alternative open services.”

Although shutting five years earlier than initially proposed, the 2017 acquisition can harmonise with meta.com, the official website of the Meta company, without conflicts in terms of identity, as meta.org’s current function differs from Zuckerberg’s new parent company.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg announced the formation of Meta amid claims that the Facebook algorithm exposes users’ private data to manipulation.

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In a virtual launch he said, “Facebook is one of the most-used products in the history of the world. It is an iconic social media brand, but increasingly, it just doesn’t encompass everything we do.

“I want to anchor our work and our identity in what we are building towards.”

Meta is short for ‘metaverse’, a keyword in Zuckerberg’s presentation, referring to shared virtual reality, augmented reality and the endless possibilities that exist and could exist in future.

Meanwhile, Facebook users will neither experience a change in service nor need to download new applications, rather Meta allows for more related and non-related innovations to come on board with the already existing services.

Facebook is not the first brand to create a new parent company. In 2015, Google announced the formation of Alphabet, a company that houses Google, Youtube and other innovations.