Meta: Facebook’s high-stakes bet to save itself

Zuckerberg is seen fencing in the 'Metaverse' with an Olympic gold medal fencer during a livestreamed virtual and augmented reality conference to announce the rebrand of Facebook as Meta, in this screen grab taken from a video released Oct 28, 2021. — Facebook/Handout via Reuters

WASHINGTON: Facebook’s name change offers a convenient diversion as scandal plagues the platform, but the new handle is also key to the firm’s costly effort to save itself from very real threats, experts said.

Jokes and vitriol poured in after CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the new corporate handle “Meta”, with critics blasting it as a transparent effort to distract from its whistleblower crisis.