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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.

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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 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
People, people, it's a BS clickbait "survey" that measures name recognition, if anything. It doesn't even appear that they prevented the same respondents from responding multiple times. Alibaba is second and 99.9% of people have had zero interaction with Alibaba.
 
I was in Army and ever like FaceBook so I never joined! As a gen X guy I lived through the AOL thing! The Internet was getting bigger and I wanted out to get a direct connection to the Internet! After a back fourth on the phone I told them I was Army and being sipped to my next station so I need to quit AOL! I've been through and IRS Audit was nothing did those others still around said I then trying to get out of AOL! when I went civilian in 2000 I went straight to internet then FaceBook comes on scene! Co-workers urge me to use FaceBook but I still refused! Later on just before I set too retire I saw those others and told them FaceBook still to me reminded me of AOL while in the Army (during the 90s)!

It actually felt good to be gangster in that whole episode!
 
Facebook crowned worst company in 2021 by Yahoo Finance. How is no one even talking about what a ridiculous statement that is. By Yahoo Finance! LOL

Well spotted. This article already has more responses than FB got negative votes on that survey. So much for fake news of the day.
 
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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. :(
Help me understand why I should care. I've clicked to allow cookies, clicked not, used encrypted messages and open forums like this one. Not one thing seems different to me. If P&G or whomever wants to pay to "target" ads to me on Facebook vs. basketball commercials, why should I care? The whole "people being the product" stuff seems to speak in grandeois and vague terms without ever explaining what exactly I'm supposed to be so upset about.
 
It’s not about a lack of intelligence. It’s about the lack of knowledge and power. Individuals cannot be expected to use self-regulation to combat intentionally-disseminated and financially-supported disinformation.
Why not? That's what has been expected of people for all time. It's never been easier to source accurate information so I don't see why it's so impossible to not believe BS.
 
I like how FB is treated like the evil person and everyone else is innocent. They are all doing it, they are all collecting and storing and selling your data. Do you think Google gives you free email, search, youtube...etc because they love you? Microsoft, and even some paid ones still collect your data and invade your privacy under the ignorance of many people.

As for FB specifically, Instagram is a product that has no alternative and no competitor, its the real issue for most people. That and some one has to convince people to stop using Whatsapp and switch to Signal
Sure, they are collecting information about me and selling it to companies so they can target ads. What is so terrifying about that? It's the basic business model of freely available media for 100+ years. How is this materially different from say, Nelson demo ratings? I don't get what you guys are so afraid is going to happen.
 
Never was a fan of FaceBook, but then again all social media to me always felt like strange, even pointless timesinks.

However, was this poll simply a popularity contest? Or was there something of substance being brought up?
Person who took the time to assign an avatar complains about timesinks...
 
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…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.
So everyone hates Facebook for the social media hell they have created and yet they’re excited about this same, “worst company” being in charge of creating the successor to it?

People are dumbasses.

I quit Facebook 11, almost 12 years ago. I saw this coming and said as much at the time. People thought I was stupid. “You can’t just quit Facebook, how will you stay in touch with people?” Turns out I’m completely fine and didn’t need most of those “friends” anyway. It’s all BS anyway, nobody has hundreds or thousands of actual friends. It’s just a popularity contest akin to high school. I’ve been a lot more successful and less distracted without it.
 
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I've never understood the allure of posting all your most private details for the world to see, and comment on, and for companies like Facebook to monetize.
 
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Well done, you’ve earned it. Can’t think of a company more deserving of this award.
 
I sincerely wish that Apple would come up with it's own social media platform and put Facebook out of business. It's old. The same user experience for years. So sick of looking at the same old layout all the time and with every other post being an advertisement. It's absolutely time for FB to go away and someone better to take over.
 
I sincerely wish that Apple would come up with it's own social media platform and put Facebook out of business. It's old. The same user experience for years. So sick of looking at the same old layout all the time and with every other post being an advertisement. It's absolutely time for FB to go away and someone better to take over.
Apple's "social media platform" is basically iMessage and FaceTime. If you want to keep in contact with people who really matter to you, just contact them directly.
 
Help me understand why I should care. I've clicked to allow cookies, clicked not, used encrypted messages and open forums like this one. Not one thing seems different to me. If P&G or whomever wants to pay to "target" ads to me on Facebook vs. basketball commercials, why should I care? The whole "people being the product" stuff seems to speak in grandeois and vague terms without ever explaining what exactly I'm supposed to be so upset about.
Here is what you should be upset about and why you should care:

1. Facebook has weaponized A/B testing and human psychology and biology (endorphins) against its users
2. Users are subject to pervasive, consistent A/B tests — the purpose of which is to decode how you think and the conditions under which you are likely to do X (click the like button, not click the like button, support position A, etc.)
3. This knowledge of users and the levers for how to manipulate users is what facebook really sells
4. Facebook uses this knowledge to manipulate context (your feed, the ui and other factors under their control) to engineer optimal conditions for you to take a given set of actions based on their knowledge of your interests and your psychology
5. Users have been duped into thinking that their behavior on Facebook is of their own free will, while they are actually being manipulated based on their quantified psychology — which informs what Facebook chooses to target them with

“With or without [facebook] good people will do good and evil people will do evil. But for good people to do evil, that requires [facebook].” — Apologies to Steven Weinberg.

Evidence: Watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix, Look at Facebook - inspired violence in India, Myanmar, and even the US (Jan 6 insurrection, anti-vaccine lunacy, etc.).

Net-net: Facebook is toxic, and if you are on Facebook you’re unwittingly contributing to the perpetuation of this corrosive and amoral system.
 
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I get why Facebook was selected but my vote goes to...Photobucket! They constantly send threatening insulting emails saying they're going to delete all my photos. The worst company of all time. Ridiculously horrible people. If they weren't operating Photobucket, they'd be working for a Mexican cartel.
 
F
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I've never understood the allure of posting all your most private details for the world to see, and comment on, and for companies like Facebook to monetize.
Facebook understands this very well — vanity is a sign of a mind that is low on self-esteem and ripe for manipulation.
 
**** facebook and **** zuck.

i actually quite enjoyed facebook around 2009/2010. i know it had been around for years even then but for me i felt like that's when it started to become really popular. i had been using Myspace + Bebo until then lol.

the more i used it i became more frustrated with it. i mean it was ****ing with my head. i was getting angry and upset as it was messing with my mental health. once i realised that i needed to stop using it i tried quitting it and it was difficult. i was addicted to logging in every day or checking it on my phone. i tried many times to abandon the site but kept crawling back. people would make fun of me cause i kept deleting my account then creating a new one.

i kept thinking i was missing out and i wouldn't be able to keep in touch with anyone. my life got worse (not really anything to do with facebook) and i quickly realised who the important people were in my life and if i needed to contact them or they had to contact me then it could easily be done without the help of facebook.

eventually i did manage to delete it and i haven't looked back. i'm glad i got that **** out my life. i did try Instagram but couldn't get into it. never bothered with WhatsApp either.
Thank you. This is an honest and instructive explanation of the very real and intentional addictiveness of this platform. Kudos to you for having the self-awareness to realize something was wrong, then summoning the willpower and persistence to break out of this carefully engineered psychological prison. 🙏🏽
 
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