Facebook changed its name because it is a “dead entity” whose assets were seized.
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Meta sounds like the Hebrew word for “dead,” but the company lives
If Your Time is short
- Meta sounds like the Hebrew word for "dead," but the company isn’t dead and its assets haven’t been seized, contrary to a recent Instagram post.
A year ago, on Oct. 28, 2021, the company formerly known as Facebook announced it was changing its name to Meta.
The company detailed why — and we’ll get to that — but a recent Instagram post offered another, unfounded explanation.
"ead entity," the Oct. 27 post said, apparently misspelling "dead." "Assets seized along with the media companies…. That why Fakebook name change to meta….it means dead n Hebrew…..Everything is going to go down…so prepare Plan for spending time in nature and building a new community where you live."
The post includes a hashtag associated with QAnon, the conspiracy theory movement that in 2020 Facebook banned across all of its platforms. It was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Though the post doesn’t specify who supposedly seized Meta’s assets, we found no evidence to support the claim that anyone or any entity did. There are no news or government reports, nor statements from the company stating as much.
It’s true that Meta sounds like the feminine form of the Hebrew word for "dead," a rebranding that drew the scorn of some Hebrew speakers in 2021.
After Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new name during an online presentation on Oct. 28, 2021, the company said in a statement that the change "brings together our apps and technologies under one new company brand."
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"Meta’s focus will be to bring the metaverse to life and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses," the statement said.
The New York Times reported that the rebranding reflects how Zuckerberg "plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the new digital frontier, which is the unification or disparate digital worlds into something called the metaverse."
The metaverse, the Times said in a separate explainer, refers to "a variety of virtual experiences, environmental and assets that gained momentum during the online-everything shift of the pandemic."
The Washington Post, meanwhile, noted that the name change came as the company was trying to "distance itself from a social-media business embroiled in crisis and rebrand itself as a forward-looking creator of a new digital world."
As of Oct. 28, 2022, Zuckerberg was still at the helm of Meta as its founder, chairman and chief executive officer. The company’s assets haven’t been seized, and it’s not dead.
We rate this post False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, Oct. 27, 2022
Meta, Executive team, visited Oct. 28, 2022
Meta, Introducing Meta: A social technology company, Oct. 28, 2021
The New York Times, Are we in the Metaverse yet?, July 10, 2021
The New York Times, Facebook renames itself Meta, Oct. 28, 2021
The Washington Post, Facebook is changing its name to Meta as it focuses on the virtual world, Oct. 28, 2021
NBC News, Facebook bans QAnon across its platforms, Oct. 6, 2020
BBC, Meta: Facebook's new name ridiculed by Hebrew speakers, Oct. 29, 2021
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Meta sounds like the Hebrew word for “dead,” but the company lives
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