Facebook has changed the name of its parent company to Meta. Founder Mark Zuckerberg will become CEO of Meta, handing over control of Facebook to another executive. But unlike when Google changed the name of its parent company to Alphabet and the founders took a step back, Zuckerberg has no intention of leaving the social media giant he started in his college dorm room.

Instead, Zuckerberg says Meta will help pave the way for the Metaverse, an extension of the Internet we use today.

But there is more to Meta than a sleek new logo. Meta is also about removing Zuckerberg from the hottest part of government surveillance. Facebook documents released to the Washington Post and Facebook files published in the Wall Street Journal, as well as congressional testimony by former Facebook product manager Francis Haugen, paint a paints an ironic picture. It is a picture of trying to gain engagement at any cost, even if it means pushing harsh content to the top and bringing real-world violence, rather than sharing cute baby pictures.

Needless to say, Zuckerberg puts a lot on meta.

In a letter from the founder published on the meta news site, Zuckerberg writes that the Internet is undergoing yet another change. Unlike previous shifts from text to images and from images to video, this time it will be more immersive. [According to Zuckerberg, this experiential Internet will blend elements of current interactions into a composite world consisting of virtual and augmented worlds that users can seamlessly move between. It's like "Ready Player One" or an episode of Futurama where the crew dons VR headsets and travels to a world that personifies the Internet in a rather perverse way.

"The defining quality of the metaverse would be the sense of presence. Feeling like you're really with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology."

In the future Zuckerberg envisions, people gather, work, learn, and shop without ever leaving their rooms. It's like teleporting into another world. Along with the Oculus Quest 2, which will be renamed Meta Quest, Meta is working on Project Cambria, a mixed reality headset that will be introduced next year.

Thankfully, this immersive Internet future will not be run by one company. Tim Sweeney of Epic Games has already expressed interest in the Metaverse. Fortnite is a kind of metaverse in its own right, with real-world elements such as Ariana Grande and LeBron James appearing in "Storm Island" to provide new interactive experiences. It could also be a way for Apple to release its grip on the user through its devices.

Needless to say, Facebook does not have a good year in 2021. The year began with riots at the U.S. Capitol, and new evidence suggests that the social media platform was a vehicle for organizers to gather and spread their message. And this is apart from the speed at which misinformation about vaccines spread across the platforms and the company's inability to keep up.

Facebook had promised prior to the 2020 election to curb the most active parts of online political commentary and limit its involvement in the process, but as soon as Joe Biden was confirmed as the winner, it turned off such safeguards. from November 2020 to January 2021. During this period of time, from November 2020 through January 2021, organizers were able to use Facebook and other Internet platforms to fuel a "Stop the Steal" campaign that would falsely challenge the election results.

"Facebook proved that it cannot act independently. Time and time again, Facebook has chosen profit over safety. 'Facebook has chosen profit over safety. [After the events of January 6, according to Haugen's testimony before Congress, these safeguards were turned back on.

And this is in the US, where Facebook has a team of moderators trying to control the worst of the social media users. In other countries like Myanmar and Sri Lanka, there are only a handful of moderators, if any. Facebook was also active in Myanmar, signing contracts with cell phone carriers for free access to Facebook. The algorithm and its abuse by the Myanmar government led to the genocide and expulsion of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority. Facebook has since terminated the program. However, this illustrates the common Silicon Valley practice of introducing a product first and fixing problems later. In this case, however, addressing the problem after the product was already in use had fatal consequences.

In practice, however, the creation of a new governing body, with Zuckerberg as CEO, will give him more control over his social media company. Zuckerberg has already created dual class shares, with owners of Class B shares having more power than owners of Class A shares. Of course, Zuckerberg owns a lot of B shares, which would give him the most control on the board of directors.

Not only that, but being the CEO of a larger governing body, Zuckerberg may be able to avoid government oversight by appointing someone else as Facebook's CEO. The millions of dollars spent on federal lobbying probably won't hurt either.

"He will probably escape subpoenas and calls to speak before the House Antitrust Subcommittee. Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business, said on an episode of the podcast Pivot. I hope people don't fall for it."