Can people still blame Facebook for depressed teenagers and attempted coups if it’s not called Facebook anymore?
Zuckerberg is reportedly preparing to announce a name change “to reflect its focus on building the metaverse,” the Verge reported Tuesday. This sudden rebranding comes when Zuckerberg is facing an avalanche of scandals after former employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked a trove of internal documents, then testified in front of Congress.
“Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy,” Haugen said
Internal researchers also allegedly knew how toxic and damaging Facebook and Instagram are for young women and teenagers, creating unreasonable, dangerous expectations of beauty, yet did nothing to change the system. Other allegations are that Facebook failed to stop the spread of misinformation on its platform, eventually helping spur the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The new site won't just be social media, the new branding is expected to focus on all of the company’s properties, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus.
In July, Zuckerberg said that Facebook’s future lies in the virtual metaverse, in which users will live, work and play inside.
The “metaverse” certainly has a ton of hype around it right now, but I think it’s actually a pretty good term to describe what will happen when a bunch of interesting technologies start to come together. But, what will it do to our daily lives? Look how Zuckerberg's Facebook has changed our lives. . .