Mark Zuckerberg says Meta employees will be known as ‘Metamates’

Mark Zuckerberg has given his employees a new name as part of a widespread rebrand.

Staff will be known as “metamates”, Mr Zuckerberg said, as he revealed a whole set of new principles in a meeting with staff.

They also include the replacement of its infamous catchphrase “move fast”, with “move fast together”. “Be bold” will also be replaced with “build awesome things”.

Mr Zuckerberg also revealed new values, including a commitment to “focus on long term impact” and not to “nice ourselves to death”.

It was one of those new value that has prompted the most confusion and mockery after it was made public by a reporter from The Verge.

The last value on the screen, which reportedly showed in capital letters and was revealed with a straight face by Mr Zuckerberg, reads: “Meta, metamates, me”.

The word “metamates” prompted widespread confusion and mockery – as well as concern that the phrase seems to suggest that staff members should put the company’s wellbeing ahead of their own.

Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s incoming chief technology officer, said on Twitter that he “loves” the new name and that it had been invented by influential scholar Douglas Hofstadter.

“Fun fact: Metamates was coined by none other than Douglas Hofstadter himself after an employee cold emailed him for ideas after our rebrand,” Mr Bosworth wrote. “I love it!

“Also the saying is a reference to a Naval phrase which Instagram has used for a while ‘Ship, Shipmates, Self’,” he wrote.