Associated Press
INTERNET – We know the new name of the company Facebook. It will now be necessary to call the firm founded by Mark Zuckerberg “Meta”, as was announced this Thursday, October 28.
Note that it is simply the name of the group that changes, and not its various applications such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook or Instagram.
But why this name change?
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To forget the controversies?
This announcement comes at a crucial time in the life of the company. It is indeed entangled in controversies. The technology giant is notably accused of putting profits before humans by a whistleblower Frances Haugen and many elected officials. As a common thread of controversy: Facebook knew its dangers such as toxic content on Instagram for adolescents and disinformation that harms democracy.
American dailies have also shone the spotlight on the role of the social network in the polarization of societies. According to researchers employed by the firm, American and Indian users, with a priori moderate political views, are overexposed to extremist or conspiratorial content. At issue: the algorithms seek to maximize the attention of consumers, an essential engine of the group’s growth.
Other articles have again accused the social network of giving in to pressure from censors in Vietnam or of not being able to regulate hate speech in the world, for lack of the necessary language skills.
To top it off, Facebook experienced a massive multi-hour bug on October 4th. WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Facebook have been unavailable, much to users’ dismay. The group then apologized on the competing social network Twitter, where all Internet users had taken refuge.
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We have learned a lot by facing many problems. “Mark Zuckerberg.
This is why this name change is interpreted as a distraction maneuver by the critics of the Californian group. The firm “thinks that a new brand can help it change the subject,” reacted last week an NGO of anti-Facebook activists, ironically dubbed “the real supervisory board of Facebook (” The Real Facebook Oversight Board ” ), when rumors of a name change were circulating.
This Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg also explained that “meta” – “beyond” in ancient Greek – had been chosen to show that there is “always more to build”. “We have learned a lot by facing a lot of problems,” he said. He believes that it is now time to learn the lessons to “build the next chapter”.
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A new step towards the metaverse
This next chapter has a name. “Meta” indeed comes from Mark Zuckberg’s ambition to bring his firm into the “metaverse”. This word designates a “meta-universe”, a kind of digital parallel world where we can interact with others from a distance as if they were in the same room as us.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the metaverse represents the future of the Internet, after computers and mobile phones, to which the public will have access to communicate, work or play through technologies (augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, etc. .).
“Meta will help us build the Metaverse, a place where we can all play and connect in 3D,” the firm tweeted on Thursday. “The metaverse is the next evolution of social connections. It is a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to everyone. You will be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play much more extensively than is possible today. ”
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Announcing @Meta — the Facebook company’s new name. Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where we’ll play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection. pic.twitter.com/ywSJPLsCoD
— Facebook (@Facebook) October 28, 2021
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