TECHWEEK
Yahoo Finance shared a list of the worst tech companies of 2021 based on a study in which respondents said which company upset them the most in the past year:
This year, 1,541 people in our survey were angry about a lot, from the Robinhood freeze last winter to the electric car startup Nikola, which still struggles to pull together. But one company annoyed them the most: Facebook.
The first place in the ranking of complaints against technology companies in 2021 was taken by Meta. Yahoo Finance explained that there were many complaints from users about censorship, “mainly from the right and conservatives” who believed that “they should have the right to say whatever they want on the platform.”
One respondent recalled that Facebook was accused of the rise of far-right extremism and “undermining democracy around the world.” Also, survey participants were upset about the negative impact of Instagram on the mental health of children and adolescents.
People also rebuked Meta for failing to control significant misinformation, which critics said contributed to people not taking the deadly potential of the pandemic seriously.
Rating of complaints against technology companies
- Alibaba ranked second in the list of worst tech companies… The reason is the decline in shares by almost 50% over the year. Investors are upset that they have lost money.
- Third place at AT&T, which lost 24% for the year, while the S&P 500 rose by 24%. Like Alibaba, this is a story of dissatisfaction with the value of the stock, Yahoo Finance said.
- The fourth place was taken by Nikola due to numerous problems and a situation where founder Trevor Milton was accused of fraud.
- Tesla stock has skyrocketed, but people have complaints about the company… People are furious that Tesla launches products before they are ready. They are also dissatisfied with scandals related to sexual harassment and the general cult of personality that Elon Musk creates around himself.
Interestingly, about 30% of Yahoo Finance respondents said that Meta can atone for their guilt by apologizing for what they did and donating a “significant amount” of their profits to a fund that will help fix the harm.
While some people saw the Meta rebranding as a cynical attempt to change the dialogue, following Don Draper’s advice in the scandal, others were encouraged by the potential for a new direction, which could be interesting and somewhat different from the outdated social media model, writes Yahoo Finance.
