Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, is in… bad shape.

Nearly a year after its much-publicized rebranding, the company’s shares plunged 57 percent. CEO Mark Zuckerberg lost roughly $70 billion of his net worth, making him the 20th richest man in the world (as the world’s smallest violin). The financial strain also forced the company to cut its workforce budgets and freeze new hires, even those that were already accepted.

Much of Meta’s troubles stem from the bleak financial outlook across the tech industry and the world at large. However, it is also an obstacle created by themselves. At a shareholder meeting in May, Zuckerberg made the startling announcement that despite having invested billions of dollars in the metaverse, the…