Meet Meta, the newly rebranded parent company of Facebook

Don’t forget to like our posts and follow us on Facebook, er, Meta! Facebook, the social network recently under fire for knowingly ignoring the harm their algorithms were doing, has announced a parent company rebrand to their new name: Meta. Founder Mark Zuckerberg says the name change is to represent a move beyond the social network to a virtual reality “metaverse” though critics claim it’s to deflect from the current controversy.

The name change to Meta will only apply to the parent company, and apps including Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp will keep their names. Meanwhile, the giant company will shift its focus to virtual reality it demonstrated recently to mixed reviews. Zuckerberg said at an annual developers conference that they are learning from their mistakes and expanding.

“We’ve learned a lot from struggling with social issues and living under closed platforms, and now it is time to take everything that we’ve learned and help build the next chapter. I am proud to announce that starting today, our company is now Meta.”

Facebook plans to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to develop the new Meta metaverse.

Critics are likening the rebranding move to oil and tobacco company rebrands in the past that aimed to sidestep their tarnished images. Meta, nee Facebook, has been struggling since former worker Frances Haugen leaked many internal studies showing executives knew that their algorithms were harmful to people’s well-being and facilitated radicalisation but did nothing to adjust for it. Critics allege Facebook chose bottom line profits over the well-being of the world.

One study leaked showed a fake AI profile was created with conservative American values and within 5 days it was being pushed towards Q Anon and other radical conspiracy theory groups.

Meta head Zuckerberg claims these leaked documents are a cherry-picked attempt to smear Facebook. Many suggest that the rebranding is an attempt to distance itself from the controversy while gaining favour with lawmakers to influence future internet and technology policy.

SOURCE: The Phuket News