Social media giant Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta as part of a major rebranding exercise.

The company said that Meta will bring "together our apps and technologies under one new company brand".

It also said that Meta would better "encompass" what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR), reports BBC.

The change, however, does not apply to company's individual platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, but only to the parent company that owns them.

The company's new name was announced by its co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg during the Connect 2021 event.

At the event, Zuckerberg unveiled company's plans to build a "metaverse" - an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, using VR headsets.

He said the existing brand could not "possibly represent" everything that the company is doing.

"Right now our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything we’re doing today, let alone in the future. Over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards," Zuckerberg said.

"To reflect who we are and the future we hope to build, I’m proud to share that our company is now Meta," he said.

"From now on, we will be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first. That means that over time you won’t need a Facebook account to use our other services. As our new brand starts showing up in our products, I hope people around the world come to know the Meta brand and the future we stand for," he added.