Metaverse: Opinions, Popular Players, and What’s Next

Popular Opinion: Changing the name from Facebook to Meta is a distraction to divert public from the real issues posed by the social media giant

Recently, The Wall Street Journal obtained access to Facebook’s internal documents that showed Instagram is toxic for teen girls and Facebook knows it. This report includes an in-depth research by the Facebook team citing a significant teen mental-health issue.

The report prompted US senators to launch a probe into Facebook Inc’s (now Meta Inc.) internal research. Lawmakers across parties and from chambers of Congress are taking this probe seriously, demanding answers from Zuckerberg.

As reported on The NYTimes, at least 11 US states are investigating whether the firm put the public at risk for its own profits, hence violating state consumer protection laws. Maura Healey – Massachusetts attorney general and one of the leading investigators said:

“Facebook, now Meta, has failed to protect young people on its platforms and instead chose to ignore or, in some cases, double down on known manipulations that pose a real threat to physical and mental health — exploiting children in the interest of profit.”

The social media company not only needs to regain trust among lawmakers, but it also has to fix its image from being branded as an evil corporate giant.

This is especially, when the majority of people believe that changing the name to Meta is a distraction created by Zuckerberg to rebrand its organization and regain faith in society.

Douglas Rushkoff, a media theorist and author of the book “Team Human,” thought it was a joke, a deep fake – when he checked Zuckerberg’s video announcement on the new name.

“While Mark is trying hard to pitch investors to focus on the bigger picture if you look closely – there is no bigger picture. In reality, it is a small network of virtual worlds connected for a business plan,” Douglas opined in his article on CNN.