【Text/Observer Network Zhang Zhaodong】
On October 28, local time, social media giant Facebook announced that it had officially changed its name to "Meta". The company says the name better "covers" what it does as it expands from social media to areas like virtual reality.
Facebook's name change has sparked a hot discussion on social media, and "Meta" has become a hot topic on Twitter, from parliamentarian celebrities to ordinary netizens, who have ridiculed Facebook's move to change its name.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the company's new name , Meta , at Thursday's Facebook Connect conference , along with plans to build a "metaverse." The "metaverse" is an online world where people can play games, work, and communicate in a virtual environment, often connected using virtual reality headsets.
Zuckerberg said existing brands "can't represent everything we do now, let alone the future." Speaking at the conference, he said, "Metaverse is the next frontier, and from now on, we will put the metaverse first, not Facebook first." ”
Zuckerberg also said that he chose "Meta" because it means "beyond" in Greek, and he hopes to reinstate the company through this move.
It is worth noting that this name change is only a change in the corporate name of Facebook, and its social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram retain their existing names and will operate under the renamed Meta company. The company's ticker symbol will also be changed to "MVRS" from December 1.
Source: Meta Official Push
But this sign... Domestic netizens fixed their eyes on it, "Is this a 'plagiarism' WeChat video number?" ”
It is worth mentioning that as early as 2019, when Facebook announced that it was going to transform, there were reports that it was learning from China's WeChat, when Zuckerberg also claimed: If you learn WeChat earlier, it would be good.
Some domestic netizens laughed.
"Don't face it?" "Almost looked at Huawei's Mate."
"It used to be 'you have to die,' now it's 'buy it.'"
Domestic netizens ridiculed and played terriers, and foreign netizens did not hesitate to let go, and even mocked the firepower even more.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, commented: "Meta means 'We are the cancer of democracy, transforming into a global surveillance and propaganda machine that pushes dictatorships and destroys civil society... (It's all) for profit! ’”
Scientist Matt Blaze writes: "Renaming 'Facebook' to 'meta' solves the same problem as changing 'torture' to 'intensive interrogation.'" ”
Trevor Noah, a well-known American talk show host, complained: "It will take me a while to get used to saying, 'He's radicalized in a META group.'" (Note: The homophone metta has the meaning of love)
Andy Slavitt, a former senior adviser to the Biden administration on COVID-19 policy, put it bluntly: "Meta only accomplishes one thing, and that is to make Zuckerberg say that he is no longer the CEO of Facebook." He will now do less controversial things, such as building a virtual world where he can become king. ”
"On that very day, the phrase 'this is too meta' went from an interesting comment to a devastating insult."
"Meta is even creepier than Facebook."
"When they are summoned by the court for Facebook influencing the election, they are shouted 'meta'. ”
Changing the name has been attacked by such a group, all because Facebook has been plagued by scandals in recent years, negative reports, and damage to the brand's reputation.
In 2018, Facebook was exposed to the "Cambridge Analytica scandal", and 87 million Facebook user data was improperly leaked to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to support former US President Trump during the 2016 presidential election.
The incident hit Facebook's brand image hard, and the aftermath of the incident continues to this day. On the 20th of this month, Racine, the attorney general of the District of Columbia, formally sued Facebook founder Zuckerberg, saying that he needed to bear personal responsibility in the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal.
And shortly before Facebook decided to change its name, Frances Haugen, a former employee of the company, became a whistleblower, leaking thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents to the Wall Street Journal revealing the company's internal culture, its handling of misinformation and hate speech, internal research into news recommendation algorithms and information about the Jan. 6 congressional unrest.
Haugen accused Facebook of "putting interests first" and a series of reckless public interests, including inciting divisions, undermining democracy, and harming the mental health of teenagers. Subsequently, the United States Congress held a hearing on the documents. Zuckerberg, for his part, called the reports "selective use of leaked documents to portray a false image of our company." ”
Haugen attends the US Senate hearing
Of course, in addition to these fiercely worded taunts, there are also people who make light and funny jokes.
Writer Mitchell Clark posted a photo of NBA player Meta World Peace, laughing that "this is the only 'Meta' we recognize." ”
Comedy writer Matt Oswalt tweeted: "Meta is an acronym for 'A girl I loved in high school, but years later found out she posted anti-vaccine links on Facebook and promoted Tom Hanks as a pedophile.". ”
"My parents would probably go something like: 'My Facebook became Meta, how do I change it back?' ”
"The way Mark Zuckerberg worked to fix Facebook: change the name to Meta."
"M = Manipulating, E = Everyone, T = Through, A = Advertising." ”
Even other companies are following suit.
Fast-food chain Wendy's changed their name to "Meat" on Twitter.
The UK branch of Germany's largest supermarket chain, Olezzi, unveiled their new logo "Betta".
Video platform HULU: "Hello everyone, we're also called Hulu. ”
Twitter Official: "Big News! Hahaha, just kidding, we also call Twitter. ”
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