OK, what exactly is Facebook trying to do by changing its name to "Meta?"

[1gunaholic]

I'm not a FB fan to begin with, but it sure seems like damage control by Mr. Z after all the bad publicity FB has gotten lately. What's he hiding by changing all of his companies products and names?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Trying to look "cool" and be more than just the singular book of faces. Meta is more obscure and vague, and people will associate the new name with whatever other ventures they pursue.

If "FB" started a home delivery service, you might think. "what does FaceBook have to do with groceries?" Because we know them as a social media site. This shakes the etch a sketch and gets us to accept whatever various ventures Meta starts doing. Now we know Meta does VR and social media. When Meta starts another service we are more likely to roll with it and chalk it up to another service from a vaguely named company.

Or if you are a tinfoil hatter, when it comes crashing down around them for manipulating info, etc its easier for Meta to move beyond the FB days because when we are all shaking rakes, pitchforks and torches at FB, we are more likely to not notice them as Meta workers slide out a side door to abandon FB and move on to their next venture. And it gives them cover of "That? Oh THAT was a FB thing. We arent FB. We are Meta. We are different." (Kinda like even though we still recognize the wet pain on the shady buy her pay here car dealer sign, the same shady staff, etc and the workers say "ABC Used Cars? Never heard of them. Look at the sign. We are XYZ Used Cars. We are a different company. IF you had a beef, it was them, not us." )

 

[1gunaholic]

Trying to look "cool" and be more than just the singular book of faces. Meta is more obscure and vague, and people will associate the new name with whatever other ventures they pursue.

If "FB" started a home delivery service, you might think. "what does FaceBook have to do with groceries?" Because we know them as a social media site. This shakes the etch a sketch and gets us to accept whatever various ventures Meta starts doing. Now we know Meta does VR and social media. When Meta starts another service we are more likely to roll with it and chalk it up to another service from a vaguely named company.

Or if you are a tinfoil hatter, when it comes crashing down around them for manipulating info, etc its easier for Meta to move beyond the FB days because when we are all shaking rakes, pitchforks and torches at FB, we are more likely to not notice them as Meta workers slide out a side door to abandon FB and move on to their next venture. And it gives them cover of "That? Oh THAT was a FB thing. We arent FB. We are Meta. We are different." (Kinda like even though we still recognize the wet pain on the shady buy her pay here car dealer sign, the same shady staff, etc and the workers say "ABC Used Cars? Never heard of them. Look at the sign. We are XYZ Used Cars. We are a different company. IF you had a beef, it was them, not us." )

Good points, but still seems like they're trying to hide something.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Good points, but still seems like they're trying to hide something.

Yep.

They are also focusing on the new thing. The MetaVerse. Think 3D immersive social media. You put on a VR headset instead of typing and you adopt an avatar persona and interact more physically than just typing.

 

[Dutchisaurus]

Yep.

They are also focusing on the new thing. The MetaVerse. Think 3D immersive social media. You put on a VR headset instead of typing and you adopt an avatar persona and interact more physically than just typing.

Roblox for adults.

 

[deo62]

I thought a basketball player bought it

 

[Cameramonkey]

Roblox for adults.

THIS!

 

[Dutchisaurus]

THIS!

We've tried this before and it just turns into porn. See Second Life.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Have none of you seen the commercials for Meta on tv? It's not like they're hiding anything. Not a fan of FB or Zuck, but this isn't anything more than a marketing move IMHO.

 

[Ingomike]

Good points, but still seems like they're trying to hide something.

They are. They are trying to hide all the companies and technology they are buying because many of us are exposing the monopolistic behavior they are currently engaging in under the FB name. The compliant media and DOJ will dutifully use the meta name as they continue and the sheep will keep grazing…

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Roblox for adults.

THIS!

WTF is Roblox, youngsters?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

They are. They are trying to hide all the companies and technology they are buying because many of us are exposing the monopolistic behavior they are currently engaging in under the FB name. The compliant media and DOJ will dutifully use the meta name as they continue and the sheep will keep grazing…

So just like Amazon then...

 

[Dutchisaurus]

WTF is Roblox, youngsters?

It's a virtual game my kiddos play with a virtual economy

 

[Ingomike]

So just like Amazon then...

Yes. The DOJ’s of the past would not allow such power to coalesce in so few. Think ATT and Standard Oil…

 

[jake blue]

I think Cameramonkey has the right idea. I want to say the Metaverse falls somewhere between the Matrix and Surrogates. If you haven't seen both of these, the basic difference is in the Matrix was your conscience uploaded into a virtual reality whereas in Surrogates you simply climbed into an immersive experience gear like a recliner and your better-looking android tooled around the real world living your life by proxy. As far as I can tell, current technology only allows you to participate in virtual reality so think of it like if all of your life outside of your home took place in a 3D Zoom conference. Of course this really only applies to white-collar labor anyways since most of us have to actually show up and do real work but I'm sure they'll find some way to make it less white-privileged (sarcasm). Imagine instead of showing up to court you just log into the proceedings! It seems like a stretch to believe the entire business world and legislative and judicial systems could be upended to embrace a radical game-changer like this but isn't that exactly how many of us got through COVID thus far? And look how many companies are trying to return to office normal but employees are resisting it. Facebook now Meta simply believes they can be the herald for this radical innovation based on the fact that they dominated the social media space and maintained that dominance longer than any of their predecessors. If they can be the first and/or the biggest in the metaverse then they should be able to secure their share or perhaps a majority share. Or more likely the metaverse will end up being highly fractured and specialized and as a result pretty much fizzle as a single all-consuming virtual existence. If I wanted to juggle 50 different facets of my life in different online spaces I'd still be using Yahoo! Groups!

 

[snapping turtle]

META=make everything Trump again.

 

[TheGrumpyGuy]

So just like Amazon then...

I'm just curious which one winds up being renamed Zorg at some point in the future...

 

[jake blue]

I'm just curious which one winds up being renamed Zorg at some point in the future...

That would be Amazon. Bezos already has the head for it!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Facebook used to be Facebook. It was their sole product and it made sense. Now the company is essentially a media congolmerate and it makes less sense for the overall company to be named after only one of their products. Kind of like "Only Mattresses" is great until you start selling things that aren't mattresses.

If it's an attempt to avoid bad publicity it's the stupidest way possible to do it, since it just got more people talking about it. Love or hate Facebook and Zuckerburg, if you think they don't understand how marketing works then you're kind of lost in the conversation.

 

[KLB]

This is the same as Google/Alphabet. Facebook is but one of their holdings. It makes sense to have some other entity be the holder of all of them.