Social media is swirling with new names for Facebook

These are just a few of the suggestions floating around online after it was reported that Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is planning to change its group name. The company, of course, declined to comment on any rumors or speculation, but the Twitterati had no problem with that.

The debate ranged from sensible to insane to weird.

"Meta" was one of the more sober suggestions, referring to Facebook's alleged desire to adopt a name that focuses on the Metaverse, a virtual environment in which users can meet.

Bookface, Facegram, Facetagram, FreeFace, FreeTalk, World Changer.

On the wilder side, Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) user Dave Pell drew a comparison with musician Kanye West, who recently changed his name to "Ye".

It would be great if Facebook "changed" its name to Ye, he said.

Several humorous suggestions echoed online speculation that the alleged renaming was driven by founder Mark Zuckerberg's desire to make Facebook "cool" again.

The platform has been abandoned by many younger users who migrated to apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok and is increasingly populated by the elderly.

"Teenage Wasteland," said a prankster.

The Old People's App "because we younger ones call it that," student Vittoria Esteves told Reuters in Rome.

"Boomerville," suggested Marco, referring to the so-called baby boomers who were born in the years after World War II.

'STREISAND EFFECT'

The online naming was sparked by a report on tech website Verge asking a newly named group to act as the parent company for all of the company's brands, including Facebook itself, Instagram and WhatsApp, with an emphasis on virtual and augmented reality.

An announcement is expected next week, according to the report.

However, many suggestions reflected public concern about how the company deals with user safety and hate speech. Internal documents leaked to a whistleblower formed the basis for a hearing in the US Senate last week.

"Fakebook", for example. Tracebook.

Others were skeptical that a name change would be enough to detract from the increasing legal and regulatory scrutiny that has damaged the company's reputation.

"The Barbra-Streisand effect will occur," said 20-year-old Glasgow student Thomas van der Hoven, referring to the phenomenon that trying to suppress something unintentionally increases public interest.

"So they are going to try to change it and that will only make the fact that they are changing it more apparent. Why are they changing that?" He added. "So it will probably spit back in their faces at some point.