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I'm going to assume you're acting in good faith and just haven't seen this definition of platform. The one everyone else in this thread is using is "an applica

I'm going to assume you're acting in good faith and just haven't seen this definition of platform. The one everyone else in this thread is using is "an application or website that serves as a base from which a service is provided" (that's straight from Merriam-Webster) Examples include (also from M-W): "music streaming platforms" "has built a cloud-computing platform for use by others" "billions of photos scraped from Facebook and other social media platforms" The only one that really could count in your examples is email, and if you think that doesn't have problems try setting up your own server and sending to gmail, hotmail, and other large providers without getting sent to spam or outright bounced.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago
That's definition (b) from M-W. Definition (a) is "operating system." Though that's kind of a layman's oversimplification and it's more specifically the operating system's API implementation, which is why Java qualifies by providing the same thing. But also, how does email not fit under (b)? Or Signal etc.?
- cmeacham98 5y ago
  Definition (a) goes on to include "also : the computer architecture and equipment using a particular operating system", which I think is largely accurate and I agree something like java would probably fit. Email and Signal are kinda on the fence for me, because they're split up in a way where it's not really one cohesive platform in the same sense as a social media platform. Regardless, even if you consider them platforms in this sense, both have the same issue with the detection of spam and other bad actors.
  - AnthonyMouse 5y ago
    As far as I know Signal doesn't do spam filtering at all and has no means to read your messages. They just separate things sent from people not in your contacts until you add them, which happens entirely at the discretion of the peer and not the service.
    - cmeacham98 5y ago
      Does signal not attempt to ban users that engage in spamming, spreading malware/CP/other undesirable content, impersonation, etc?
      - AnthonyMouse 5y ago
        How would they have any information about any of this? It's end to end encrypted. I don't think it even has accounts; the service is just a relay and the messages are authenticated on the basis of TOFU, i.e. this peer is the same as it was last time.
        BoorishBears 5y ago
        Yeah Signal still has as an order of magnitude fewer monthly users as WhatsApp has daily users, so the "we won't do anything, block them or call the cops" approach still works. The scale thing I mentioned is real.
        AnthonyMouse 5y ago
        Most "monthly" users are also "daily" users, so I don't know what point you're trying to make there. Signal has tens of millions of active users. This has nothing to do with call blocking or anything like that. I've had Signal for years and the the only spam in my message history is from more than a year ago and was sent via SMS. It's all just network effect and WhatsApp being the same company as Facebook and therefore having a marketing budget that a non-profit doesn't. The fact that Signal has grown by a factor of nearly a hundred over the past two years despite WhatsApp's network effect implies that people strongly prefer it.
        BoorishBears 5y ago
        I feel like you must be trolling between the whole spending 4 comments arguing that TCP/IP is a platform thing... and now saying MAUs and DAUs are the same. MAUs are how many people used Signal in a month. DAUs are how many people used WhatsApp in a day. The DAU/MAU ratio for an app is never 100%. Ever. 20% is like a "good" rating, and 50% is like a best-in-class rating. So WhatsApp having literally an order of magnitude more DAUs shows the gap in their usage. The gap in their usage is not something for you to start making excuses about, it explains why Signal has no way to deal with fraud, child porn, spam, etc besides calling the police. That flies precisely because Signal is small potatoes compared to the platforms I mentioned.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago

That's definition (b) from M-W. Definition (a) is "operating system." Though that's kind of a layman's oversimplification and it's more specifically the operating system's API implementation, which is why Java qualifies by providing the same thing. But also, how does email not fit under (b)? Or Signal etc.?

cmeacham98 5y ago
Definition (a) goes on to include "also : the computer architecture and equipment using a particular operating system", which I think is largely accurate and I agree something like java would probably fit. Email and Signal are kinda on the fence for me, because they're split up in a way where it's not really one cohesive platform in the same sense as a social media platform. Regardless, even if you consider them platforms in this sense, both have the same issue with the detection of spam and other bad actors.
- AnthonyMouse 5y ago
  As far as I know Signal doesn't do spam filtering at all and has no means to read your messages. They just separate things sent from people not in your contacts until you add them, which happens entirely at the discretion of the peer and not the service.
  - cmeacham98 5y ago
    Does signal not attempt to ban users that engage in spamming, spreading malware/CP/other undesirable content, impersonation, etc?
    - AnthonyMouse 5y ago
      How would they have any information about any of this? It's end to end encrypted. I don't think it even has accounts; the service is just a relay and the messages are authenticated on the basis of TOFU, i.e. this peer is the same as it was last time.
      - BoorishBears 5y ago
        Yeah Signal still has as an order of magnitude fewer monthly users as WhatsApp has daily users, so the "we won't do anything, block them or call the cops" approach still works. The scale thing I mentioned is real.
        AnthonyMouse 5y ago
        Most "monthly" users are also "daily" users, so I don't know what point you're trying to make there. Signal has tens of millions of active users. This has nothing to do with call blocking or anything like that. I've had Signal for years and the the only spam in my message history is from more than a year ago and was sent via SMS. It's all just network effect and WhatsApp being the same company as Facebook and therefore having a marketing budget that a non-profit doesn't. The fact that Signal has grown by a factor of nearly a hundred over the past two years despite WhatsApp's network effect implies that people strongly prefer it.
        BoorishBears 5y ago
        I feel like you must be trolling between the whole spending 4 comments arguing that TCP/IP is a platform thing... and now saying MAUs and DAUs are the same. MAUs are how many people used Signal in a month. DAUs are how many people used WhatsApp in a day. The DAU/MAU ratio for an app is never 100%. Ever. 20% is like a "good" rating, and 50% is like a best-in-class rating. So WhatsApp having literally an order of magnitude more DAUs shows the gap in their usage. The gap in their usage is not something for you to start making excuses about, it explains why Signal has no way to deal with fraud, child porn, spam, etc besides calling the police. That flies precisely because Signal is small potatoes compared to the platforms I mentioned.