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Facebook changed its name to 'Meta' - and celebrities, politicians, and brands quickly roasted it

Oct 29, 2021, 22:33 IST
Business Insider
Meta Facebook name change Facebook
  • Facebook announced it is changing its name to "Meta" on Thursday.
  • Celebrities, politicians, and brands poked fun at the new name on Twitter.
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People on the internet were quick to poke fun at Facebook's new name, Meta.

After the news was announced on Thursday, jokes about the name change went viral, as brands, politicians, and celebrities took shots at the new name.

"And it was on that day that 'that's so meta' went from being an interesting observation to a devastating insult," popular YouTuber Hank Green tweeted.

"'Meta' is short for 'I meta girl in high school who I had a huge crush on only to find her years later on Facebook posting anti-vax links and Tom Hanks pedophile theories,'" comedy writer Matt Oswalt tweeted, referencing Q-anon conspiracy theories.

Many people used the new name as an opportunity to take digs at Facebook's reputation for misinformation.

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Other users pointed out the timing, saying it's a step for the company to distance itself from recent controversy. The announcement comes amid a series of negative reports about Facebook's business practices.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly denied that the new name has anything to do with the recent controversy, calling the idea "ridiculous." Instead, he says "Meta" underscores the company's plans to build a virtual universe called the metaverse.

Several politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, slammed the name.

A former White House advisor expressed concern that Zuckerberg would quickly become "king" of the virtual universe.

While many users had concerns about the name change, others had fun with the new branding.

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Several brands reacted to Facebook's new name. Wendy's joked it was changing its own name to "Meat," and an Aldi Store UK account teased they'd change their logo to "Betta."

Twitter had some criticism for Meta. Its CEO Jack Dorsey called the new name "self-referential," while Twitter's safety team said the only Meta it would acknowledge was its own internal META team.

Though Facebook's announcement caused a stir on social media, experts told Insider's Katie Canales that the new name will not be enough for Facebook to win back consumers' trust or shield it from the backlash surrounding the leaked documents detailing its business practices.

Facebook will start trading under the new stock ticker MVRS in December.

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