mSak

crowley said:

EsquireCats said:

While some social media platforms include chat features between individuals or to a group, this isn't what defines a social media platform. In much the same way that a conference call isn't social media. Calling such platforms social media requires twisting the term "social" to mean any other contact without any kind of logic or limitation.

Social media includes public forum and discovery components. To use an example which demonstrates the difference: a person on a social media platform can choose to make a post which can be seen by other unknown users or the general public. This post can also be shared and forwarded in a way that links back to the original poster. All of these are absent in group chat environments such as Apple Messages, Zoom calls and so on.

One can attempt to argue that certain features of chat resemble social media, but these are tenuous and rely on an ignorant audience.

I don't think the pertinent argument is the taxonomy of whether group chat is really social media, it's whether the laws that are being designed for social media should also apply to group chat.  And that depends on the purpose of the laws.  I could there being some cross-classification application for laws around cyber bullying, for example, or for moderation of hate groups using the platform.