4 ms·

Starting to wonder if the name became "Meta" so that the headlines wouldn't read "Class action suit filed against Facebook" or "Scandal involving Facebook".

by 0des 5y ago

sva_ 5y ago
There used to be some telecom company in my country, who had some TV personality in all of their TV ads. Then, one day he wasn't in the ads anymore. It had been said that they stopped putting him in the ads, because the audience tends to associate negative emotions with a person more easily than with abstract concepts. Perhaps something similar is going on with some of these tech companies, where they use some really abstract name to which it's hard to attach negative emotions to.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  Maybe they should stop putting Zuck in front of cameras. I associate strong negative emotions with him.
anshumankmr 5y ago
How effective can such a thing be? Aren't they using the Meta keyword on all of their products now? As well as the fact it was likely all over the news, globally.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- 0des 5y ago
  The headline didn't mention facebook, did it?
  - anshumankmr 5y ago
    Let's see https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/28/facebook-changes-company-name-to-meta.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/28/facebook-changes-company-nam... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-... https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59083601 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59083601 Though you have a point, I know a lot of people who don't know that Alphabet is the parent of Google.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - anders_p 5y ago
      Seems like you completely missed the point of 0day's comments. I can't think of any other explanation to why you'd use the word "Though" here.
drcode 5y ago
I think this is overthinking it. Mark Zuckerberg is the head of the world's most mundane tech company at the moment, so he changed the name and the focus of the company to try and dig out of this hole.
- kbenson 5y ago
  Not gonna lie, I always thought slightly worse of Facebook just because of the name. Not on purpose, it just seemed a silly name for such a large company. It's like if Toys "R" Us somehow became a powerhouse of a company you heard about all the time. It probably says more about me and my perceptions of social networks than anything else, and my perceptions of Facebook from the early days persisting with the name. But that's the thing with names, they don't matter. Except they actually do a little bit.
  - 0des 5y ago
    It actually took me a while to realize this, but some areas use the term 'facebook' (before the website was around), as a term similar in meaning to what most of us call a "yearbook"
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
asow92 5y ago
"Class action suit filed against Facebook's Parent company, Meta" Easy fix. Just look at Google / Alphabet reporting.
- iso1631 5y ago
  But that's not what the headline says
  - asow92 5y ago
    The poster of this PDF link chose the headline and who here at HN doesn't know who Meta are? Also read the Plaintiff in the document: Plaintiff, v. META PLATFORMS, INC. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.), a Delaware corporation
    - iso1631 5y ago
      By changing the name, we get headlines like " Investors sue Meta for alleged failure to protect mental health of users " https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/11/investors-sue-meta-for-allegedly-failing-to-protect-mental-health-of-users/ https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/11/investors-sue-meta-for-a... And "‘An egregious breach of public trust’: Ohio sues Meta over whistleblower revelations" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/16/ohio-sues-meta-securities-laws-deceiving-public https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/16/ohio-sues... Does it stop every headline? No. But it helps disconnect the idea of "facebook the site" (pics of granny's cat) and "facebook the company" (shady)

Starting to wonder if the name became "Meta" so that the headlines wouldn't read "Class action suit filed against Facebook" or "Scandal involving Facebook".

by 0des 5y ago

Starting to wonder if the name became "Meta" so that the headlines wouldn't read "Class action suit filed against Facebook" or "Scandal involving Facebook".

sva_ 5y ago

There used to be some telecom company in my country, who had some TV personality in all of their TV ads. Then, one day he wasn't in the ads anymore. It had been said that they stopped putting him in the ads, because the audience tends to associate negative emotions with a person more easily than with abstract concepts. Perhaps something similar is going on with some of these tech companies, where they use some really abstract name to which it's hard to attach negative emotions to.

SavantIdiot 5y ago
Maybe they should stop putting Zuck in front of cameras. I associate strong negative emotions with him.

anshumankmr 5y ago

How effective can such a thing be? Aren't they using the Meta keyword on all of their products now? As well as the fact it was likely all over the news, globally.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
0des 5y ago
The headline didn't mention facebook, did it?
- anshumankmr 5y ago
  Let's see https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/28/facebook-changes-company-name-to-meta.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/28/facebook-changes-company-nam... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-name-change.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/technology/facebook-meta-... https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59083601 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59083601 Though you have a point, I know a lot of people who don't know that Alphabet is the parent of Google.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - anders_p 5y ago
    Seems like you completely missed the point of 0day's comments. I can't think of any other explanation to why you'd use the word "Though" here.

drcode 5y ago

I think this is overthinking it. Mark Zuckerberg is the head of the world's most mundane tech company at the moment, so he changed the name and the focus of the company to try and dig out of this hole.

kbenson 5y ago
Not gonna lie, I always thought slightly worse of Facebook just because of the name. Not on purpose, it just seemed a silly name for such a large company. It's like if Toys "R" Us somehow became a powerhouse of a company you heard about all the time. It probably says more about me and my perceptions of social networks than anything else, and my perceptions of Facebook from the early days persisting with the name. But that's the thing with names, they don't matter. Except they actually do a little bit.
- 0des 5y ago
  It actually took me a while to realize this, but some areas use the term 'facebook' (before the website was around), as a term similar in meaning to what most of us call a "yearbook"
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

asow92 5y ago

"Class action suit filed against Facebook's Parent company, Meta" Easy fix. Just look at Google / Alphabet reporting.

iso1631 5y ago
But that's not what the headline says
- asow92 5y ago
  The poster of this PDF link chose the headline and who here at HN doesn't know who Meta are? Also read the Plaintiff in the document: Plaintiff, v. META PLATFORMS, INC. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.), a Delaware corporation
  - iso1631 5y ago
    By changing the name, we get headlines like " Investors sue Meta for alleged failure to protect mental health of users " https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/11/investors-sue-meta-for-allegedly-failing-to-protect-mental-health-of-users/ https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/11/investors-sue-meta-for-a... And "‘An egregious breach of public trust’: Ohio sues Meta over whistleblower revelations" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/16/ohio-sues-meta-securities-laws-deceiving-public https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/16/ohio-sues... Does it stop every headline? No. But it helps disconnect the idea of "facebook the site" (pics of granny's cat) and "facebook the company" (shady)