Metamates is the new name used by employees at Meta, the newly rebranded parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. According to Verge senior editor Alex Heath, CEO Mark Zuckerberg rattled out a set of new corporate values that Meta will follow during a virtual all-hands meeting on Tuesday. One of the most important is the expression “Meta, Metamates, me,” which designates the importance of Meta employees’ individual interests vs. the well-being of their colleagues and the organization. Heath’s characterization of the presentation was later validated by the Washington Post.
Metamates, not to be confused with Metamucil, a fiber supplement for people with gastrointestinal problems, will have some new values in the future. Meta’s directive to “move fast” is now “move fast together,” “be brave” is now “create wonderful things,” and the values statement now includes a “emphasis on long-term effect,” according to Zuckerberg. “Be open” has been replaced with “live in the future” as Facebook’s corporate value, while “be direct and respect your colleagues” has been replaced with… “be open.” Finally, Meta employees should not “nice ourselves to death,” according to Zuckerberg.
Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, who will soon be promoted from vice president of augmented and virtual reality at Meta to chief technical officer, claimed on Twitter that the Metamates concept was inspired by the famous cognitive scientist, physicist, and author Douglas Hofstadter, whom an employee “cold emailed” for ideas. Sure, whatever you want. The Navy proverb “ship, shipmates, self,” according to Bosworth, is at least partially a reminder of how not to drown to death and doesn’t sound sexual.
The renaming of Facebook to Meta, as well as its shift away from goods like the eponymous social network and toward a new, three-dimensional “metaverse,” has spurred charges that the corporation is using buzzwords to obscure its shady past. On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg explained the new company ideals, saying that the Metamate language is about communal responsibility for collective success:
“Metamates, Meta, Being excellent stewards of our company and mission is important to me. It’s about our shared sense of accountability for our team’s performance and for one other as teammates. It’s about looking after our business and each other.” “Every man for himself” would be a more apt seafaring proverb for Facebook’s current scandal-plagued, dropping stock price. But that doesn’t have the same ring to it as Sea Org.
Facebook didn’t comment right now, but we’ll update this story as soon as we get to know more.
