Facebook as Meta also revealed a new logo. Reuters
Facebook as Meta also revealed a new logo. Reuters
Facebook as Meta also revealed a new logo. Reuters
Facebook as Meta also revealed a new logo. Reuters

Arts & Culture

Facebook is now Meta – and the internet has something to say about it

The social media giant is rebranding with a new name, but it isn't making people happy

Hayley Skirka
Hayley Skirka

October 29, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

On Thursday, Facebook said it was changing its company name.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the company's new name is Meta. Coinciding with the news, the thumbs-up logo at Facebook headquarters was taken down and replaced with a new infinity-style logo to represent Meta.

As news of the name change broke, the internet reacted.

Formula One reporter Luke Smith alluded to what seems to be Zuckerberg’s simplistic problem-solving skills, writing: “Can't have problems with Facebook if the company isn't called Facebook”.

Producer Adam Lance Garcia posted a picture of Regina George from Mean Girls on Twitter, alongside the words: "Stop trying to make meta happen".

In the 2004 film, the character which is played by Canadian actor Rachel McAdams, is lambasted for trying too hard to make the word "fetch" popular.

Another Twitter user took to social media to draw parallels between Zuckerberg's new metaverse and the hit Netflix show Squid Games.

Zeff Kong wrote: “Let the games begin" in a post alongside an image of the Meta chief next to a similar calling card used by agents in the violent show, which sees hard-up contestants compete to the death for cash.

European bargain supermarket Aldi also joined in the conversation. The company took to Twitter to say it would be right back as it was busy unveiling it’s new name "Betta", alongside a mock-up of a new logo with the tagline, "We betta than all the rest".

Other social media users pointed out the unoriginality of the rebrand with Twitter user Lynn Kelp Mackrill saying the new logo immediately made her think of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Facebook has updated its social media pages with the fresh logo and has a new handle on Twitter for Meta that has more than 13.5 million followers. Zuckerberg also pointed out that the name change will not impact its apps including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

But the news of the rebranding did cause the ever-popular #deletefacebook hashtag to trend once more on social media.

Facebook’s name change comes as the company shifts its focus to the metaverse – a new online realm that combines virtual and augmented realities.

While you're here
The%20specs
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UAE%20SQUAD
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David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

How Beautiful this world is!
While you're here
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
While you're here
The%20specs
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Haemoglobin disorders explained

Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.

Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.

The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.

The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.

A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.

Test series fixtures

(All matches start at 2pm UAE)

1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday

2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18

3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31

4th Test Manchester from August 4-8

UAE%20ILT20
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

THREE
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
​​​​​​​Bloomsbury Academic

Updated: October 29, 2021, 9:13 AM
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