Enter the Zuckerverse? Social Media Churns With New Names for Facebook

Faceplant, Bookface, Facegram, Facetagram, FreeFace, FreeTalk, World Changer — take your pick.

By Reuters | Updated: 21 October 2021 10:52 IST

Enter the Zuckerverse? Social Media Churns With New Names for Facebook

Names reflected speculation the alleged rebrand was driven by Zuckerberg's wish to make Facebook cool

Highlights

Facebook has been deserted by many younger users
"Teenage Wasteland", one wit suggested
An announcement is expected next week, according to the report

Zuckerverse. Timesuck. Faceplant.

They're just a few of the suggestions being bandied around online following reports that Facebook plans to rebrand itself with a new group name. The company refused to comment on rumor or speculation, of course, but the Twitterati had no problem.

The debate careered from sensible to screwball to strange.

Facebook Plans to Rebrand With a New Name Next Week: Report

"Meta" was one of the more sober trending suggestions, referring to Facebook's reported desire to assume a name that focuses on the metaverse, a virtual environment where users can hang out.

Bookface, Facegram, Facetagram, FreeFace, FreeTalk, World Changer.

On the wilder side, Twitter user Dave Pell drew a comparison with musician Kanye West who recently changed his name to "Ye".

Facebook Announces 10,000 EU Jobs to Build 'Metaverse'

"It would be awesome if Facebook changes its name to Ye," he said.

Several humorous suggestions reflected online speculation that the alleged rebrand was driven by founder Mark Zuckerberg's yearning to make Facebook "cool" once more.

The platform has been deserted by many younger users who have moved to apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, and has become increasingly populated by older people.

"Teenage Wasteland", one wit suggested.

"The Old People's App because that's what us younger people call it," college student Vittoria Esteves told Reuters in Rome.

"Boomerville", suggested Marco, referring to so-called baby boomers born in the years following World War II.

'Streisand effect'

The online naming feast was sparked by a report on the Verge tech site that a newly named group would act as a parent for all the company's brands, including Facebook itself, Instagram and WhatsApp, and reflect a focus on virtual and augmented reality.

An announcement is expected next week, according to the report.

Many suggestions however reflected the public's concern about how the company handles user safety and hate speech. Internal documents leaked by a whistleblower formed the basis for a US Senate hearing last week.

"Fakebook", for example. Tracebook.

Other people were sceptical whether a name change would be enough to detract from the growing legal and regulatory scrutiny that has tarnished the company's reputation.

"It's going to be the Barbra Streisand effect thing going on," said 20-year old Glasgow student Thomas van der Hoven, referring to the phenomenon where seeking to suppress something inadvertently turbo-charges popular interest in it.

"So they're going to try and change it, and then that's just going to put the spotlight on the fact that they're changing it. Why are they changing this?" he added. "So it's probably going to spit back in their face at some point."

Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth joins Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast for an exclusive wide-ranging interview, as he talks about the 5G push, Make in India, Realme GT series and Book Slim, and how stores can improve their standing. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.