Facebook changed its name to Meta in October.
Meta; screenshot by CNET.
Facebook changed its name to Meta in October to reflect its focus on the creation of virtual spaces where people can work, play and socialize in what’s known as the metaverse. Now the social media giant is revamping its values.
In a note to Facebook employees, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined six of the company’s updated values. The values include move fast, focus on long-term impact, build awesome things, live in the future and be direct and respect your colleagues. The last value is “Meta, Metamates, Me,” a reference to the Navy phrase “Ship, shipmate, self.”
“It’s about the sense of responsibility we have for our collective success and to each other as teammates. It’s about taking care of our company and each other,” Zuckerberg writes in the note, which he shared publicly on Facebook on Tuesday. Facebook wrote its values in 2007.
The social network’s rebranding and the company’s updated values showcase how Facebook is trying to revamp its battered image as it focuses on what Zuckerberg thinks will be the successor to the mobile internet. The social network has faced criticism from politicians, advocacy groups and others for failing to protect user privacy and combat hate speech and misinformation. Some of Meta’s workers are also questioning if the company should be creating new products without fixing all the problems it already has on its social media platform, The New York Times reported in February. Meta will likely have a harder time policing offensive content such as online harassment in the metaverse, which is a problem the company is already grappling with in virtual reality.
Meanwhile, Meta’s problems are still growing.
On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of violating the state’s privacy laws by capturing biometric data on tens of millions of Texans without properly obtaining consent. A Meta spokesperson said the “claims are without merit.”
On Tuesday, Facebook also announced it would start referring to its News Feed as Feed to reflect the variety of content users see on the platform.
