Facebook spokeswoman Bertie Thompson told the Information after confirming the massive rebranding. “We want to be clearer about the products and services that are part of Facebook.”
The rebranding move comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed frustration that Facebook doesn’t get enough credit for both apps’ Instagram and whatsapp success.
The Federal Trade Commission’s ongoing antitrust investigation into Facebook is looking at whether Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become a threat to its business.
The prevalent social media giant bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014.
Politicians and presidential candidates such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren have said Facebook’s ownership of three of the most popular social networks in the world means it essentially holds a monopoly over social media as a whole.
Warren and others argue that the company Facebook should be split up, with Instagram and WhatsApp being spun off from Facebook.
The social giant Facebook rebrand already follows the similar approach for its enterprise chat tool Workplace which is named as ‘Workplace by Facebook’.