Its iconic Like Button became the cultural symbol for the social media age.

But today, an askew infinity sign sits lit up by the entrance to 1 Hacker Way: the former address of Facebook (FB  ), the new address of Meta.

The name change hearkens to the metaverse, a yet unrealized melding of virtual, augmented, and digital worlds.

In Meta's founder's letter, company Chief Mark Zuckerberg describes the metaverse as "an embodied internet where you're in the experience, not just looking at it."

"You'll move across these experiences on different devices - augmented reality glasses to stay present in the physical world, virtual reality to be fully immersed, and phones and computers to jump in from existing platforms. This isn't about spending more time on screens; it's about making the time we already spend better," the letter continues.

From its Oculus headsets to recent partnerships with Ray-Ban to create video-recording glasses, the company's strides at creating this new reality made the name change necessary, according to Zuckerberg.

And yet, the rebrand also comes when the company formerly known as Facebook is under more scrutiny than perhaps any other time in its history.

In September, the Wall Street Journal began to publish internal documents, leaked by Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, showing that Facebook was aware of the harms it was causing--- from spreading hate and misinformation to promoting toxic beauty standards to teen girls on Instagram.

Haugen has since appeared before Congress and the British Parliament to call for closer regulation of Facebook and its algorithms.

"Over time, I hope we're seen as a metaverse company," said Zuckerberg at an event heralding the rebrand.

At said event, Zuckerberg previewed an avatar of himself moving between digital worlds to meet with family, friends, and colleagues from around the globe.

"You're really going to feel like you're there with other people," he said. "You're not going to be locked into one world or platform."

He also demoed Horizon Workrooms, a conferencing product where teams can collaborate on work in virtual reality through the power of Oculus. The product was released to open-Beta August with little better than mixed reviews. Horizon Worlds, which could be described as the VR version of Facebook, was also featured.

Critics have called the rebrand cosmetic, as beyond a logo change and a new stock ticker, MVRS starting December 1, Zuckerberg retains a controlling interest in the company's direction.

When news of the impending name change broke, social media lit up with some not-so-favorable comparisons to Phillip Morris' rebrand as Altria Group (MO  ) in 2001. Facebook's Vice President for global policy and communications has called such comparisons "extremely misleading."

Zuckerberg acknowledged that many hurdles remained before a seamlessly integrated digital reality could be realized. He said that challenges such as establishing standards for the metaverse, such as those that govern the worldwide web, would not be solved in the near term.

Challenges remain on the consumer end as well. While Meta's latest VR headset, the Oculus Quest 2 starts at a mere $299, it's hard to imagine your everyday consumer splurging on such a device to experience what can currently be described as a Zoom call--just in VR.

As apps paved the way for smartphone adoption, consumers will need to find unique, relevant applications to truly embrace the metaverse in all its seeming abstraction.

To that end, Facebook has $150 million set aside to help developers create new immersive apps and programs.

"We are fully committed to this," said Zuckerberg. "It is the next chapter of our work."