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> I think that these large communication platforms absolutely resemble other large communication platforms that are currently covered by common carrier laws Th

> I think that these large communication platforms absolutely resemble other large communication platforms that are currently covered by common carrier laws They have nothing in common except the "communication" label. > Specifically, a lot of the functionality that these platforms provides, fulfills a usecase that is similar to the phone network They don't. The "phone network" is what provides access to the internet, a website is not a phone company, it sits at a higher level of abstraction. That's like saying a popular TV show is a broadcast network because everyone watches that show. > online communication platforms are now as important as the phone system That's not true. If the top 10 most popular websites on the internet disappeared overnight there would still be many thousands of ways to communicate over the internet.

stale2002 6y ago
> They have nothing in common except the "communication" label. Sure they do. They have usecases in common. There are many ways that I communicate with people, online, that has now entirely replaced me calling those people up on the phone. That is how they are similar. They are similar in that online services are, in many cases, direct or indirect substitutes for the same exact usecase. > They don't They absolutely do. The shared functionality is that I no longer use phone companies anymore, and I instead use online services for that same exact content. > That's not true. It absolutely is true. To explain what I mean, I would say that I would truly rather be banned from the entire phone network than to be banned from something like facebook. This is because I legitimately use facebook for communication more often than I use phones. Therefore, being banned from facebook would have a larger impact on my life than being banned from ever making a phone call again. That is how facebook is more important than the phone network. It is more important in that being banned from facebook would have a larger effect on my life than being banned from make phone calls ever again, due to the fact that I use facebook much much more for communication.
- root_axis 6y ago
  > This is because I legitimately use facebook for communication more often than I use phones. Therefore, being banned from facebook would have a larger impact on my life than being banned from ever making a phone call again.. If you use Facebook as your primary communication platform I can see how getting banned from Facebook would be very inconvenient, unfortunately, the fact that you would rely on Facebook in such a manner doesn't change the reality that Facebook is just one website, while a phone network is fundamental infrastructure that underpins internet connectivity. For the vast majority of Facebook users losing access to the phone network would mean losing access to not just Facebook, but everything on the internet. You might have grown accustomed to thinking of Facebook as something more than just a website, but that conception is simply wrong, the idea that Facebook is comparable to the network that Facebook runs on is categorically incorrect.
  - stale2002 6y ago
    > e fact that you would rely on Facebook in such a manner It is the reality of the situation that a whole lot of people rely on facebook in such a manner, and because of the network effect they would be unable to convince all of their friends and family to switch to other platforms. One person cannot defeat platform locking and network effects. > while a phone network is fundamental infrastructure Not really. It would be easier for me to never call someone's phone number again, than to get rid of other communication platforms that I use.
    - root_axis 6y ago
      > It is the reality of the situation that a whole lot of people rely on facebook You're just wrong. The overwhelming majority of people use a variety of communication services like e-mail, imessage/sms and many others, and this is common knowledge, people who only use Facebook for communication are frankly extremely rare.
      - stale2002 6y ago
        > people who only I am saying that they rely on it more for communication than they do on phone calls. I communicate with people much more over Facebook than I do through actual phone calls, and it would be less of a problem to be banned from ever making phone calls again than it would be to be banned from facebook.
        root_axis 6y ago
        > I am saying that they rely on it more for communication than they do on phone calls. Nobody is talking about phone calls and you know it. It doesn't matter that you use Facebook more than anything else, it doesn't change what Facebook actually is. If you use discord or slack to do most of your communicating that doesn't mean they become utilities, that's just your personal preference.
        stale2002 6y ago

stale2002 6y ago

> They have nothing in common except the "communication" label. Sure they do. They have usecases in common. There are many ways that I communicate with people, online, that has now entirely replaced me calling those people up on the phone. That is how they are similar. They are similar in that online services are, in many cases, direct or indirect substitutes for the same exact usecase. > They don't They absolutely do. The shared functionality is that I no longer use phone companies anymore, and I instead use online services for that same exact content. > That's not true. It absolutely is true. To explain what I mean, I would say that I would truly rather be banned from the entire phone network than to be banned from something like facebook. This is because I legitimately use facebook for communication more often than I use phones. Therefore, being banned from facebook would have a larger impact on my life than being banned from ever making a phone call again. That is how facebook is more important than the phone network. It is more important in that being banned from facebook would have a larger effect on my life than being banned from make phone calls ever again, due to the fact that I use facebook much much more for communication.

root_axis 6y ago
> This is because I legitimately use facebook for communication more often than I use phones. Therefore, being banned from facebook would have a larger impact on my life than being banned from ever making a phone call again.. If you use Facebook as your primary communication platform I can see how getting banned from Facebook would be very inconvenient, unfortunately, the fact that you would rely on Facebook in such a manner doesn't change the reality that Facebook is just one website, while a phone network is fundamental infrastructure that underpins internet connectivity. For the vast majority of Facebook users losing access to the phone network would mean losing access to not just Facebook, but everything on the internet. You might have grown accustomed to thinking of Facebook as something more than just a website, but that conception is simply wrong, the idea that Facebook is comparable to the network that Facebook runs on is categorically incorrect.
- stale2002 6y ago
  > e fact that you would rely on Facebook in such a manner It is the reality of the situation that a whole lot of people rely on facebook in such a manner, and because of the network effect they would be unable to convince all of their friends and family to switch to other platforms. One person cannot defeat platform locking and network effects. > while a phone network is fundamental infrastructure Not really. It would be easier for me to never call someone's phone number again, than to get rid of other communication platforms that I use.
  - root_axis 6y ago
    > It is the reality of the situation that a whole lot of people rely on facebook You're just wrong. The overwhelming majority of people use a variety of communication services like e-mail, imessage/sms and many others, and this is common knowledge, people who only use Facebook for communication are frankly extremely rare.
    - stale2002 6y ago
      > people who only I am saying that they rely on it more for communication than they do on phone calls. I communicate with people much more over Facebook than I do through actual phone calls, and it would be less of a problem to be banned from ever making phone calls again than it would be to be banned from facebook.
      - root_axis 6y ago
        > I am saying that they rely on it more for communication than they do on phone calls. Nobody is talking about phone calls and you know it. It doesn't matter that you use Facebook more than anything else, it doesn't change what Facebook actually is. If you use discord or slack to do most of your communicating that doesn't mean they become utilities, that's just your personal preference.
        stale2002 6y ago