Facebook Crowned 'Worst Company of 2021' by New Survey

[MacRumors]

Facebook, otherwise known as Meta, has been crowned the worst company of the year, following a turbulent 12 months of controversies, public backlash, and an eventual entire rebrand of the social media giant, according to a survey conducted by Yahoo Finance.

Yahoo Finance every year crowns the best company of the year, with Microsoft taking the top spot for 2021. This year, however, Yahoo Finance also did a "worst company of the year" challenge, with Facebook, now known as Meta, quickly taking the top spot. According to the survey, which polled over 1,000 individuals, Facebook received 50% more votes for the spot compared to Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce platform.

Those surveyed have a "litany of grievances" towards Facebook, including but not limited to concerns over censorship, reports about Instagram's impact on mental health, and privacy. While the survey results are grim and not in the company's favor, 30% of the participants responded positively to whether Facebook could "redeem itself."

Facebook, amid scandals, did rebrand itself to "Meta," marking the start of a new direction for the company, according to its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The new name is meant to be more in line with the goal of building a "Metaverse," an entirely digital world. The rebrand was widely seen as an attempt to distract from scrutiny, and according to some participants in the survey, it worked.

One respondent said Facebook could redeem itself by acknowledging and apologizing for what it did and donating a "sizable amount" of its profits for a foundation to help reverse its harm. While some people saw the Meta rebrand as a cynical attempt to change the conversation... others were excited by the potential of a new direction that could a) be interesting and b) something different from the aging social media model.

Facebook has long been embroiled in public concerns over the privacy of its users. Facebook has notably fought with Apple over changes in iOS and iPadOS that make it harder for companies to track users across other apps and websites.

Facebook has claimed the new change, App Tracking Transparency, would hurt small businesses that rely on advertising to attract new customers. Mark Zuckerberg has gone as far as to say that Facebook's lackluster growth in the last quarter of the year was partly to blame on ATT (App Tracking Transparency).

Apple CEO Tim Cook has also not shied away from calling out Facebook for its practices and business model. In a speech at the start of the year, Cook implied that Facebook's business model leads to polarization and violence. A Meta spokesperson declined to respond to a comment from Yahoo Finance regarding the survey.

Article Link: Facebook Crowned 'Worst Company of 2021' by New Survey

 

[MayaUser]

Justice has been done/served

 

[flashy-cat]

And in other news, a ship has hit an iceberg in the Atlantic, it was unsinkable apparently.

 

[TopToffee]

Accurate survey is accurate

 

[krbrock1]

Rightly deserved.

 

[lk400]

Jokes on them, Facebook may suck, but Meta is not the worst company in the word. Zuck is smarter than he looks.

 

[CarpalMac]

Yet nearly 3bn people use it every month. Let that sink in for a minute, that is approximately 2,800,000,000 people, 35% of the worlds population - every month.

For all Apple's marketing about privacy, forum frothings about people and their data being the product, even the acceptance that Facebook/Meta really is a cancer on society, it is clear that the majority of internet users do not care.

 

[-BigMac-]

Congratulations!
No surprises here tbh.

Hope Epic was bottom 5 too

 

[George Dawes]

I’d split it three ways along with Twitter and Reddit , all equally abysmal

 

[mzeb]

It is sad to see a company that could have done so much good connecting people in a divided country country and even a divided world become what it has. Facebook is the embodiment of greed. Instead of doing social good for the people it has productized and sold them out. But I see it dying, so it's just time.

 

[Shirasaki]

Yet nearly 3bn people use it every month. Let that sink in for a minute, that is approximately 2,800,000,000 people, 35% of the worlds population - every month.

For all Apple's marketing about privacy, forum frothings about people and their data being the product, even the acceptance that Facebook/Meta really is a cancer on society, it is clear that the majority of internet users do not care.

And apple just blows the privacy out of water with their own shenanigans. Suffice to say, no matter how many people on this forum (or somewhere else) trash Facebook, it is still there, unchallenged, almost.

 

[MRrainer]

Facebook, otherwise known as Meta, has been crowned the worst company of the year, following a turbulent 12 months of controversies, public backlash, and an eventual entire rebrand of the social media giant, according to a survey conducted by Yahoo Finance.

Yahoo Finance every year crowns the best company of the year, with Microsoft taking the top spot for 2021. This year, however, Yahoo Finance also did a "worst company of the year" challenge, with Facebook, now known as Meta, quickly taking the top spot. According to the survey, which polled over 1,000 individuals, Facebook received 50% more votes for the spot compared to Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce platform.

Those surveyed have a "litany of grievances" towards Facebook, including but not limited to concerns over censorship, reports about Instagram's impact on mental health, and privacy. While the survey results are grim and not in the company's favor, 30% of the participants responded positively to whether Facebook could "redeem itself."

Facebook, amid scandals, did rebrand itself to "Meta," marking the start of a new direction for the company, according to its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The new name is meant to be more in line with the goal of building a "Metaverse," an entirely digital world. The rebrand was widely seen as an attempt to distract from scrutiny, and according to some participants in the survey, it worked.

Facebook has long been embroiled in public concerns over the privacy of its users. Facebook has notably fought with Apple over changes in iOS and iPadOS that make it harder for companies to track users across other apps and websites.

Facebook has claimed the new change, App Tracking Transparency, would hurt small businesses that rely on advertising to attract new customers. Mark Zuckerberg has gone as far as to say that Facebook's lackluster growth in the last quarter of the year was partly to blame on ATT (App Tracking Transparency).

Apple CEO Tim Cook has also not shied away from calling out Facebook for its practices and business model. In a speech at the start of the year, Cook implied that Facebooks's business model leads to polarization and violence. A Meta spokesperson declined to respond to a comment from Yahoo Finance regarding the survey.

Article Link: Facebook Crowned 'Worst Company of 2021' By New Survey

Anybody who has an account with them should not be able to vote on this.

It’s like complaining about Google‘s privacy issues - and then complaining about sub-par search results at DDG (or that Siri is less capable than Alexa)

You can’t have your cake and eat it.

 

[Shirasaki]

It is sad to see a company that could have done so much good connecting people in a divided country country and even a divided world become what it has. Facebook is the embodiment of greed. Instead of doing social good for the people it has productized and sold them out. But I see it dying, so it's just time.

The thing is, Facebook may die eventually, but another Facebook just pops up, with a different name and fancier PR bs, and people tend to forget. In fact, TikTok is extremely popular, but equally toxic and productize people just as much as Facebook. So yeah. Maybe next year Facebook is no longer the “worst” company, but maybe second worst lol.

 

[chilly willy]

Why would anyone think a “metaverse” model would improve matters? It’d simply mean more time to stalk you as you wander their virtual world, probably for longer periods of time.
And in the FB metaverse, instead of just reading a “news feed” full of toxicity, you will probably have little avatars accosting you with the same. “Dang, I cannot shake that cute teddy bear spouting COVID conspiracy theories.”

 

[H2SO4]

Yet nearly 3bn people use it every month. Let that sink in for a minute, that is approximately 2,800,000,000 people, 35% of the worlds population - every month.

For all Apple's marketing about privacy, forum frothings about people and their data being the product, even the acceptance that Facebook/Meta really is a cancer on society, it is clear that the majority of internet users do not care.

Do not care, or do not agree.

 

[alpi123]

Justice has been done/served

This changes literally nothing

Facebook being crowned the worst company of 2021 won't suddenly make them go out of business and delete the website.

 

[kalsta]

the majority of internet users do not care.

Don’t care or don’t really understand. The standard response whenever I talk about online privacy is some version of, ‘I’m not of much interest, I have nothing to hide, etc’. They don’t step back and look at the big picture—what FB is doing to society. And even friends who do get it—I’ve seen them try to give it up, only to go back a few weeks later. That’s how addiction generally works.

 

[TechRunner]

Congrats on the win, Facebook! You'll have lots of company in the race for next year's crown, so enjoy your "victory" while it lasts.

 

[400]

I need a survey to tell me this?

 

[lyngo]

Don’t care or don’t really understand. The standard response whenever I talk about online privacy is some version of, ‘I’m not of much interest, I have nothing to hide, etc’. They don’t step back and look at the big picture—what FB is doing to society. And even friends who do get it—I’ve seen them try to give it up, only to go back a few weeks later. That’s how addiction generally works.

I wondered if I could stay off of it. Now, a year later, I’m not regretting my decision at all.

 

[TechRunner]

I wondered if I could stay off of it. Now, a year later, I’m not regretting my decision at all.

I thought the same when I deleted it 3.5 years ago. It was surprisingly easy. Of course, my wife uses it religiously and keeps me up to date on family and friends stuff, so that did make it easier. Like you, no regrets!

 

[adrianlondon]

ooo interesting. I can't wait to post this on my FB wall.

 

[canadianreader]

We can live without Facebook but Facebook can't live without us.

 

[JEY]

Yet nearly 3bn people use it every month. Let that sink in for a minute, that is approximately 2,800,000,000 people, 35% of the worlds population - every month.

For all Apple's marketing about privacy, forum frothings about people and their data being the product, even the acceptance that Facebook/Meta really is a cancer on society, it is clear that the majority of internet users do not care.

Point taken, but I'd imagine some people who smoke worry about cancer. Furthermore, to varying degrees, many people need to use Facebook.

 

[cmcbhi]

It is sad to see a company that could have done so much good connecting people in a divided country country and even a divided world become what it has. Facebook is the embodiment of greed. Instead of doing social good for the people it has productized and sold them out. But I see it dying, so it's just time.

Actually, Facebook, by spreading slime and misinformation has dome more to DEVIDE this country than any other application.