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No, not individual message boards per se, but when they're connected they are called a social network. Case in point: Reddit is called a social network. And M

No, not individual message boards per se, but when they're connected they are called a social network. Case in point: Reddit is called a social network. And Mastodon, by its inclusion in the fediverse, is part of that fediverse social network. Yes, it isn't a monolith, but when has that become a requirement for something to be called a network?

lifthrasiir 2y ago
That would be a "social" "network" (any network formed with social properties), not a "social network(ing service)" (an online platform primarily used to replicate and often independently construct social networks in the human society). They are not identical in usage and the latter is the common sense.
- cassianoleal 2y ago
  > the latter is the common sense. Common to whom?
  - lifthrasiir 2y ago
    Most Internet users who have used Facebook and likes? (And even I, who never have used Facebook, primarily use that sense.) It is the first sense in the Cambridge dictionary [1], the second sense in the Oxford dictionary available via Google Search, and the second sense and also the first non-academic sense in Wiktionary [2]. It is clearly common enough for me to say so. [1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/social-network https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/social-n... [2] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_network https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_network
    - mattashii 2y ago
      Yes, but even if you take the first definition of the Oxford or the second of Wiktionary, then still would Mastodon be a Social Network, as it does match both descriptions.
    - cassianoleal 2y ago
      From Cambridge: > a website or computer program that allows people to communicate and share information on the internet using a computer or mobile phone From Wiktionary: > A network of personal or business contacts, especially as facilitated by social networking on the Internet. In which sense do either of those fail to describe Mastodon?

lifthrasiir 2y ago

That would be a "social" "network" (any network formed with social properties), not a "social network(ing service)" (an online platform primarily used to replicate and often independently construct social networks in the human society). They are not identical in usage and the latter is the common sense.

cassianoleal 2y ago
> the latter is the common sense. Common to whom?
- lifthrasiir 2y ago
  Most Internet users who have used Facebook and likes? (And even I, who never have used Facebook, primarily use that sense.) It is the first sense in the Cambridge dictionary [1], the second sense in the Oxford dictionary available via Google Search, and the second sense and also the first non-academic sense in Wiktionary [2]. It is clearly common enough for me to say so. [1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/social-network https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/social-n... [2] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_network https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_network
  - mattashii 2y ago
    Yes, but even if you take the first definition of the Oxford or the second of Wiktionary, then still would Mastodon be a Social Network, as it does match both descriptions.
  - cassianoleal 2y ago
    From Cambridge: > a website or computer program that allows people to communicate and share information on the internet using a computer or mobile phone From Wiktionary: > A network of personal or business contacts, especially as facilitated by social networking on the Internet. In which sense do either of those fail to describe Mastodon?