A survey conducted by Yahoo Finance revealed that after 12 months of turbulent controversy, public disgust, and finally an overall rebranding of the social media giant, Facebook (also known as Meta) was named the worst company of the year. Yahoo Finance selects the company of the year every year, among which Microsoft will top the list in 2021. However, this year, Yahoo Finance also did a “worst company of the year” challenge, and Facebook, now known as Meta, quickly took the top spot.
The people surveyed have a series of dissatisfaction with Facebook, including but not limited to concerns about censorship, reports on the impact of Instagram on mental health, and privacy. Although the results of the survey were severe and detrimental to the company, 30% of participants responded positively to whether Facebook could self-redemption.
According to its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in the scandal, Facebook rebranded its own brand as “Meta”, marking the beginning of a new direction for the company. The new name aims to be more in line with the goal of establishing Metaverse, that is, a fully digital world. The rebranding is widely considered to divert the attention of censorship, and according to some participants in the survey, it worked.
One interviewee said that Facebook can help to reverse its damage by acknowledging and apologizing for what it has done, and donating a significant amount of its profits to a foundation to help reverse its damage and thus achieve self-salvation. Although some people think that Meta’s rebranding is a cynical attempt to change the conversation… but others are excited about the potential of a new direction, which may be a) interesting, b) following aging The social media model may bring different things afterward.
For a long time, Facebook has been involved in public concerns about the privacy of its users. Facebook and Apple have obvious disputes over changes in iOS and iPad OS, and these changes make it more difficult for the company to track users on other apps and websites. Facebook claims that the new change, app tracking transparency, will hurt small businesses that rely on advertising to attract new customers. Mark Zuckerberg even said that Facebook’s weak growth in the last quarter of this year was partly due to ATT (Transparency in Application Tracking).
Apple CEO Tim Cook does not shy away from criticizing Facebook’s practices and business model. In a speech earlier this year, Cook hinted that Facebook’s business model has led to polarization and violence.