The next stage of internet development is metaverse. At present, interactions on internet happen on websites such as social media or on messenger apps. Metaverse will make these interactions multi-dimensional. Here the users will be able to immerse themselves in digital content, rather than simply viewing it.

Facebook would like to bring metaverse to life. It plans to hire technical manpower in European Union over the next five years. The catchment areas for the hire are Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portland, the Netherlands, Poland and Ireland.

Metaverse will not be owned and operated by a single company. There is apprehension that a few big tech companies from Silicon Valley would monopolise the metaverse and would monetise the personal data.

Metaverse is a broad term. It refers to shared virtual environment access through internet. Essentially, it is digital space that is rendered life-like using VR/AR.

To some, a metaverse is gaming world. Here the users have a character that interacts with other players.

A specific type of metaverse will use blockchain technology. Here the users can buy virtual land and other digital assets. The medium to do so will be cryptocurrencies.

A fictional metaverse can be created by books and movies, which is used as a setting. In other words, it is alternative digital world as distinct from the physical world.

Mostly, today virtual spaces resemble a video game, rather than a real world setting.

Metaverse as an idea is attracting investors and companies. Even Microsoft is converging digital and physical worlds.

Musicians can hold virtual concerts in a metaverse.

The term was coined originally by sci-fi novelist Neal Stephenson to describe a virtual world people escape to from a dystopian, real world.

Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name to reflect its focus on metaverse, maybe by October 28, 2021. It wants to be more than social media. Facebook is likely to become one of the products under a parent company just as Google is a product under parent company Alphabet.

Facebook is under scrutiny for the way it operates. A former employee Frances Haugen released a trove of internal documents to the Wall Street Journal, and testified about them before the Congress. Anti-trust-regulators are trying to break the company. A rebrand would focus the attention on its futuristic work. The new name is closely-guarded secret.