Facebook buys virtual reality pioneer Oculus for $2 billion

Hot on the heels of the $19 billion acquisition of instant messaging platform WhatsApp, Facebook today announced its latest purchase.

The latest buy, however, has on the face of it nothing to do with Facebook's core social networking business.

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That suggests that Zuckerberg has major plans to expand beyond what we think of today as social networking.

So, why virtual reality? Perhaps Zuckerberg imagines that the next generation of online social interaction will involve immersive virtual environments in cyberspace?

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John Aziz is the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate editor at Pieria.co.uk. Previously his work has appeared on Business Insider, Zero Hedge, and Noahpinion.