The tech giant Facebook has changed its name to 'Meta'. This was announced yesterday by the CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The individual brands under Meta (WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook) will not be renamed. Only the parent company of these apps has been renamed to 'Meta'.
Why was Facebook renamed as Meta?
Now the biggest question is why was Facebook renamed? Well, there are a couple of reasons for this renaming. The chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg conducted an hour-long live session in which he talked about virtual reality and the future of Technology. He said that the renaming has been done as a fresh start for Facebook not just as a social media company, but also as a company working extensively on virtual reality.
The name Meta has been derived from the work 'Metaverse' which focuses on Virtual Reality and AI.
But that is not the sole reason for the renaming. Facebook has been under the radar of governments and authorities all around the world for quite some time now. The tussle between the US Congress and Facebook is well known. No one can forget the big 'Cambridge Analytica' fiasco from 2018. It exposed Facebook and ruined its reputation. Since then, Facebook has been constantly grilled all over the world both by authorities and the public. It has seen a massive decrease in its user base, with a huge portion of its users moving to more privacy-respecting platforms like Twitter, Telegram, etc.
The 2 major server outages of Facebook in 2019 and recently in October 2021 massively damaged the company's credibility as the livelihood of many people who depend on the platform for their marketing and earnings were affected.
But the biggest blow came when a whistleblower and ex-employee of Facebook, Frances Haugen, leaked internal data from Facebook, which allegedly shows that Facebook knowingly spreads hate among people for profits. It also allegedly shows that Facebook completely knows about its toxic nature and the harmful effects but chooses to ignore them.
Haugen also testified before US Congress in October 2021, adding butter to the fire.
Conclusion
Facebook has been a part of people's lives for a very long time. If it leaves its malpractices, then it can again become the social media platform that connects people and spreads harmony among them. We sincerely hope that this renaming to Meta helps the company achieve its goals. We also hope it to become more transparent and fair towards its user base. Because spreading hate and spying on people never does any good for a company in the long run, as we have already seen.
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