I so don't understand why everyone's been taking the bait and calling this company Meta. I guess because the restructuring was intentional by Facebook for manipulation purposes (everyone mistrusted Facebook at that point and they needed a new identity in order to try to gain people's trust again), while Google doesn't really use Alphabet as a front because they seemingly don't care if people know them as evil.
I very commonly see things like Google acquires this, Google acquires that, even in cases where the acquirer is actually Alphabet, but I almost never see anything about Facebook, because everyone's now calling them Meta. Maybe I'm fighting a losing battle at this point, but I will never forget their past actions nor malicious intentions just because they tried to change their name.
I know the brand "Facebook" still exists for the social network, but Meta is still Facebook at its core. Same people, same values, same data harvesting. They're just using other methods to get at your data, abusing trust that maybe people wouldn't have given to Facebook if the name change hadn't occurred.
I think I must feel a little bit like Louis Rossmann must've felt when Time Warner Cable changed their name to Comcast. He still holds all of their former misdeeds against them and I think it's a real shame that more people don't do that for Facebook.
Sure in plenty of people's minds Meta is still its own entire dystopia and a half, but it still feels to me like they've all forgotten the precedent that Facebook set all the way back when that name was the one they put on their dystopia.
To me, Facebook is the service I use as login credentials on McDonalds app and other companies, separate from my offline and online identities. Also it is a social network I don't engage with. Owned by Meta.
WhatsApp is a chat program I use almost every day. Owned by Meta.
Oculus was a brand of VR goggles, but now the brand name is Meta. Owned by Meta.
To me, Facebook is something I deleted around 2013. Never saw any real reason to create another account, honestly saw so many reasons not to.
WhatsApp is something I only use in a strict sandbox to communicate with certain Chinese sellers, as well as one friend who sometimes can't use Discord/Telegram.
Oculus used to be usable offline, wired and without an account, but now requires to be logged into an account ever since Facebook acquired it (as Meta). So my first headset was an HP Reverb G2.
Also, since 'VR goggles' are starting to genuinely be a thing (see Bigscreen Beyond, or probably more the Ray-Ban stuff and the other stuff starting to pop up in that category), the more general term that the Oculus Rift counts as would be HMD (head-mounted display).
I very commonly see things like Google acquires this, Google acquires that, even in cases where the acquirer is actually Alphabet, but I almost never see anything about Facebook, because everyone's now calling them Meta. Maybe I'm fighting a losing battle at this point, but I will never forget their past actions nor malicious intentions just because they tried to change their name.
I know the brand "Facebook" still exists for the social network, but Meta is still Facebook at its core. Same people, same values, same data harvesting. They're just using other methods to get at your data, abusing trust that maybe people wouldn't have given to Facebook if the name change hadn't occurred.
I think I must feel a little bit like Louis Rossmann must've felt when Time Warner Cable changed their name to Comcast. He still holds all of their former misdeeds against them and I think it's a real shame that more people don't do that for Facebook.
Sure in plenty of people's minds Meta is still its own entire dystopia and a half, but it still feels to me like they've all forgotten the precedent that Facebook set all the way back when that name was the one they put on their dystopia.