Facebook Is Changing Its Name to Meta and People Have Thoughts

By Libby Birk - October 31, 2021 02:24 pm EDT

Facebook announced Thursday that the company's new name will be Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "We are a company that builds technology to connect. Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy." The rebrand will be reflected in the company's overarching corporate name, which effectively demotes Facebook's namesake to being just one of the company's subsidiaries like Instagram and WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg said that the name Meta will "reflect who we are and what we hope to build," adding that the name Facebook doesn't fully encompass everything the company does now and is still closely linked to only one of its products. "But over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company."

The move instantly caught the collective eye of the tech and social media universe, with Twitter users flooding the social media platform with reactions to the move. As of late, Facebook has been under intense scrutiny after revelations based on dating internal documents provided to the Wall Street Journal by whistleblower Frances Haugen showed that Facebook's Instagram platform had become a toxic place for teenagers, especially girls. Antitrust regulators are pushing for the company to be broken up, as public trust in the social media platform is faltering. Below are some reactions to Facebook's name change.

'No Meta what you call it...'

Zuckerberg/Facebook/Meta energy right now: pic.twitter.com/chQZBgcYdf
— Scary Whitta (@garywhitta) October 28, 2021

"No Meta what you call Facebook it sucks," someone wrote.

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'Please stop destroying society'

Us: Please stop destroying society

Facebook: Okay what if you just call us Meta now ;)
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) October 28, 2021

“Our new name is Meta” pic.twitter.com/laGWvJ7Vs1
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) October 28, 2021

"It's called 'Meta' because it metastasized and is killing us," another person said.

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'Never Meta social network that didn't poison our brains'

Back in my day we called it Facebook, not Meta. pic.twitter.com/9rvv0yeTkn
— In My Mind (@MeAloneInMyMind) October 28, 2021

Facebook renaming to Meta like pic.twitter.com/PjfhEaxLhV
— Dr. Parik Patel, BA, CFA, ACCA Esq. 💸 (@ParikPatelCFA) October 28, 2021

"Never Meta social network that didn't poison our brains, tbh," someone else quipped.

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Metta World Peace

Ron Artest 🤝 Facebook

Rebranding as
Meta
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 28, 2021

the original Meta name change pic.twitter.com/YnJgEoEEk7
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) October 28, 2021

Others compared the rebrand to when NBA player Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace.

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'Let them ruin the meta world'

They’ve ruined the real world now let them ruin the meta world https://t.co/AePZywxzfZ
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) October 28, 2021

Even the constantly-trolling Steak-umm Twitter account got in on the action, writing, "facebook will never be as meta as steak-umm."

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'Why'

this all happened because zuckerberg never meta girl until college
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) October 28, 2021

"BREAKING: Facebook has changed its name to 'Meta' in a move many are calling 'Why' and 'That wasn't even in the top ten problems with the website,'" one Twitter user joked.

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