Yesterday (October 28), local time, the Internet company "Facebook" announced that from now on, the company name will be changed to "Meta". What exactly does the mysterious "Meta" of God mean? Why did Zuckerberg, who chose not to "face", change his name at this time?
"Classical enthusiast" Zuckerberg:
I always wanted to change my name, but I finally succeeded
"As we begin our new chapter, I've been thinking about our identities."
Yesterday, Facebook CEO Zuckerberg unveiled his unique "thinking" at a conference called Facebook Connect. Zuckerberg said Facebook is one of the most recognized products in the company's history, "but it's increasingly failing to cover everything we have." ”
At present, Zuckerberg's "everything" undoubtedly belongs to the "metacosm". Previously, Zuckerberg has publicly stated many times that in the future, the company's main strategic focus will be oriented to the construction of the "meta-universe". The so-called "metaverse" refers to the use of the combination of VR and AR technology in the new network field to form a new virtual universe.
And "everything" seems to start with a name change. At the meeting, Zuckerberg announced the latest name of "Facebook" - "Meta".
Zuckerberg explained that "meta" is an ancient Greek word meaning "transcendence." As a well-known lover of classical literature, Zuckerberg wants to use this name to "transcend the past" and "transcend reality" ideas to jump on the paper.
According to reports, Facebook's "name change" does not involve the company's structural adjustment. In the future, the name "Facebook" will be "downgraded" to a subsidiary, alongside its own Instagram and WhatsApp. In addition, the way the company's financial statements are made will change as a result. Facebook will be part of the Family of Apps, and Meta's Reality Labs will be juxtaposed with it as another major operating arm of Meta.
In addition, Zuckerberg also revealed that it will use the new stock code MVRS for trading from December 1.
In fact, facebook's name change doesn't seem surprising. Previously, Zuckerberg had repeatedly revealed his willingness to change the company's name. In 2019, Zuckerberg made changes to the company's logo – from "Facebook" to "FACEBOOK", intended to emphasize that he is the parent company of the four global social networks of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
Obviously, changing the trademark is not enough for Zuckerberg. With the company's increasing attention to the "meta-universe", this year, Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that the name of "Facebook" is "outdated", and by changing the name to meet the needs of the company's diversified development, Zuckerberg's idea may have long been "well known".
Although the name change is not unexpected, the "Meta" one is still quite surprising to netizens. Some overseas netizens said, "Can there be a more mysterious name than Meta?" However, many netizens expressed their "dissatisfaction", "I don't care whether the new name is Meta or my grandmother's home, I permanently deleted my Facebook account." ”
Some netizens said that from the "misinformation" provider Facebook to the "metaverse" Meta, the name change is reminiscent of a sentence: "Even if you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig."
Zuckerberg wants to "darken the warehouse"?
If the name change is Zuckerberg's "conspiracy" against the "metaversic" strategy. Then, in response to more and more negative news and the strong competition faced by the company, the name change may also be Zuckerberg's "conspiracy" that is "not humane enough".
On the 26th local time, Frances Haugeen, a former employee of the company who was called "Facebook whistleblower" by foreign media, walked into the British parliament, accusing the company of inciting online hatred and extremism, failing to protect children from harmful content, and lacking the motivation to solve the problem.
According to the material previously provided by Haugeen, Facebook's algorithm does not block all kinds of inflammatory "extremist" content, and because of the high participation of such content, Facebook even pushes such content as a category of "user interest". The congressional events that occurred in the United States this year have also pushed Facebook to the cusp of public opinion.
However, Zuckerberg does not seem to have any intention of "compromising" on the matter. It has repeatedly advertised Facebook's concern for "free speech" and stressed that it will not apologize for the incident.
In addition, in the past few days, Facebook has also been involved in allegations of racial discrimination such as "marking black people as primates" and "discriminating against black employees". This also has a considerable impact on the company's corporate image.
Why did Zuckerberg choose to "change his name" at this time? American media analysis said that in the face of public doubts, although the official reference answer is "metaverse", Zuckerberg's idea may not stop there, "diverting public attention, blurring the focus of contradictions" may be the "drunken meaning" of "Meta".
U.S. experts generally believe that the name change will not solve the current problems facing Facebook. "The purpose of the name change may be to leave the contradiction to facebook as a social software, rather than spilling over into Zuckerberg's grand metacosm." Brand expert Cook said in an interview, "But Facebook overlooked the point that the public will not stop paying attention to this large Internet company until the contradiction is resolved." Zuckerberg should shift his focus to solving the needs of users, not evasion. ”
Weiss, founder of Human, a branding and communications agency, said, "The biggest problem Facebook is facing right now is that consumers don't trust it to have bigger goals. Launching a new brand at this time will only deepen consumers' worries, and consumers will think that Facebook only cares about themselves. ”
Source: Vertical News