Mocking Meta: Facebook’s VR name change sparks backlash | dead

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that the social media giant will change the name of its holding company to Meta in a rebranding of virtual reality has sparked outrage and bewilderment.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg said the Meta will include Facebook as well as apps like Instagram, WhatsApp and virtual reality tag Oculus.

“Announcing Meta – the new name for Facebook,” the tech giant said in a tweet. “Meta helps build the metaverse, a place where we play and communicate in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of socializing.”

The metaverse is the next evolution of social communication. It is a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to all. You will be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what is possible today. pic.twitter.com/655yFRm8yZ

– Meta (@meta) October 28, 2021

This change comes as the company faces a series of public relations crises.

A recently leaked set of documents now known as the Facebook Papers has exposed the company’s inner workings, with whistleblower Francis Haugen allegations that Facebook has put profits before ridding its platform of hate speech and disinformation.

Late-night satirical news program The Daily Show modified Zuckerberg’s Meta presentation video by superimposing the tech billionaire on footage from the January 6 riots at the Capitol and the 2017 Charlottesville white nationalist march. Both events were organized on Facebook.

Zuckerberg says as an image of DC rioters and a group of tiki torchbearers playing white supremacists in the background.

Politicians of all party lines have also joined the conversation about the controversial rebranding.

Progressive New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not held back, calling the company a “cancer for democracy” and a “global surveillance and propaganda machine for strengthening authoritarian regimes and destroying civil society.”

Meta like “We are a cancer of democracy moving into a global surveillance and propaganda machine to strengthen authoritarian regimes and destroy civil society…for profit!” https://t.co/jzOcCFaWkJ

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) October 28, 2021

US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey didn’t mind their words either.

Blumenthal, the former Connecticut attorney general, argued that the name change is nothing more than an attempt to “distract” and “distract,” but ultimately “will not erase years of deceptive practices, ignoring privacy and children’s welfare, spreading hate, and genocide.”

Marche refused to acknowledge the name change. “Facebook wants us to start calling it dead, but we will continue to call it what it is, a threat to privacy, democracy and children,” he said.

Far from the motives for rebranding, some objected to the Meta name itself.

“Meta is a low-end effort, and it’s the number one name that many consulting firms have certainly paid millions of dollars in,” said comedian and producer Mike Drucker.

“On that day, the word ‘meta’ went from being an interesting observation to a devastating insult,” wrote author and science video blogger Hank Green.

Other companies have joined the rebranding bandwagon. Wendy’s fast food outlet tweeted: “Change the name to Meat.”

Twitter also jumped in with the official Twitter account joking that they had “big news” followed by the clarification – “lol jk still twitter”. The CEO of the social media platform, Jack Dorsey, provided a definition to help anyone confused by the change. “Meta: refers to itself or to mores of its kind; self-reference,” he wrote.

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