'Never Meta worse idea': Facebook's new name gives critics fresh chance to roast company

Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday announced that Facebook the company (but not Facebook the social media platform) will be renamed Meta, and the company's critics were quick to mock its latest move.

Zuckerberg said the name change will allow the social media giant to reflect its focus on the metaverse and its expansion into virtual spaces where users interact with digital avatars. The company's popular Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms will keep their current names and will operate under the renamed Meta company.

"Our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can't possibly represent everything we're doing today, let alone the future,” said Zuckerberg at the company’s annual Connect conference.  

Soon, Meta became a trending topic on Twitter, an irony noted by some critics: "Every time we make fun of Facebook on Twitter it feels very Meta," tweeted Steven Spohn.

Much of the reaction on Twitter was critical of the name: "It's called Meta because we've never Meta worse idea. BOOM got 'em," tweeted John Epler.

Some lawmakers, journalists, fellow brands and others were quick to jab the new name. Many cited longtime criticisms of the platform and its crises, including a cache of documents leaked by former product manager Frances Haugen. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, shared that the company is changing its name to “Meta as in ‘we are a cancer to democracy metastasizing into a global surveillance and propaganda machine for boosting authoritarian regimes and destroying civil society… for profit!’”  

Others on Twitter also targeted Facebook over the move.  

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The fast-food chain Wendy’s on Twitter changed their name simply to “meat.”

Twitter’s official Twitter account joked that they have “BIG NEWS.”  

“lol jk still twitter,” they added.  

And Hulu took to Twitter to assure viewers that “we are still Hulu.”  

Zuckerberg told The Verge that Facebook’s recent negative news cycle “had nothing to bear on this." 

"Even though I think some people might want to make that connection, I think that’s sort of a ridiculous thing," he said. "If anything, I think that this is not the environment that you would want to introduce a new brand in.”