An Internet messaging platform is any system on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

that exchanges messages for the purpose of human communications. Messaging platforms are considered one of few key Internet infrastructure elements. What used to be only referred to as

email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

and IM has evolved into a complex multi-media email, instant messaging, and related fixed and mobile messaging infrastructure. One can argue that everything transmitted on the Internet and wireless telecommunication links is a message of one sort or another.

History

In the beginning there was

Sendmail Sendmail is a general purpose internetwork email routing facility that supports many kinds of mail-transfer and delivery methods, including the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) used for email transport over the Internet. A descendant of the ...

and many other mail delivery agents soon followed ( Postfix etc.) Once

email spam Email spam, also referred to as junk email, spam mail, or simply spam, is unsolicited messages sent in bulk by email ( spamming). The name comes from a Monty Python sketch in which the name of the canned pork product Spam is ubiquitous, unavoi ...

and

computer virus A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a compu ...

problems started becoming prevalent in the early 1990s. These

critical Internet infrastructure __NOTOC__ Critical Internet infrastructure is a collective term for all hardware and software systems that constitute essential components in the operation of the Internet. Background Several studies and events have helped to define the scope of ...

systems had to be patched