Israeli mockery of the new Facebook name because of its Hebrew meaning
Facebook's new name, Meta, has been ridiculed on social media platforms, particularly in Israel. The reason is that the word in Hebrew literally means "dead".
“In Hebrew, *meta* means *dead*,” Dr. Nirit Weisblatt, technical expert, wrote in a tweet to the Facebook communications team .
"The Jewish community will laugh at this name for years to come," added the author of The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication. Where the "meta" sounds like the feminine form of the Hebrew word dead.
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Another Twitter user asked: “Maybe this is a message? Disclaimer: I am not a conspiracy theorist. Another wrote: “Maybe Facebook (I guess its name is Meta now?) should have done some collective focus on rebranding. #FacebookDead “
"Don't worry, we're working on it," said a sarcastic tweet by the Israeli rescue organization Zaka, whose work includes collecting human corpses to ensure a proper Jewish burial is prepared, indicating that there is a dead person and will take care of his burial.
It is not the first time that trademarks have fallen into translation circumstances. For example, when KFC arrived in China in the 1980s with the phrase "finger lickin' good", it was not met with enthusiasm by locals. Where the translation in Mandarin means "get off your fingers".
However, no real damage was done, and KFC became one of the largest fast-food chains in the country.
Facebook's rebranding on Thursday was met with laughter of a different kind at a little-known Canadian industrial company, as its share price soared in an apparent case of mistaken identity. Shares in Nova Scotia-based Meta Materials jumped 6% in opening trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, after a 26% gain in trading at the close of the session, Reuters reported. While Facebook shares rose 1.6 percent.
Meta Materials specializes in designing materials for industries including consumer electronics and aerospace, and has an estimated market value of $1.3 billion (£950 million). It remained unclear whether the stock's rise was actually caused by the similarity in the names. A user on the Reddit community dedicated to discussing Meta Materials stocks asked: “Is the price action (after the session) real, or do people who buy MMAT stocks think they are getting Facebook shares really cheap?”
Whatever the reasons, the company was quick to celebrate its windfall. Where George Balekaras, CEO of Meta Materials participated in the fun, chirp: " On behalf of Metamaterialtec @ , I would like to extend a warm welcome to Facebook @ in the metaverse # ."
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