Editorial: What’s in a name? For beleaguered Facebook, not very much at all

The social media giant is trying to distract from its various woes by changing its name, a gambit that is doomed to failure

Facebook’s name-change is designed to take the spotlight away from its social media platforms and towards the company’s newest idea for conquering the world – the “metaverse”. Picture: Getty

One definition of the word “meta” is “beyond”. Another is “self-referential”. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of Facebook, is beyond self-referential. So it is not a surprise that he has chosen this word, which is Greek in origin, as the new name for his company.

Last week, Facebook Inc became Meta Platforms Inc. Its social media platform, apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp, and its other businesses will be divisions of Meta while ...