Message

For other uses, see Message (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Massage or Messuage.

Geheime Korrespondenz (secret correspondence), by Carl von Bergen

A headstone message in the Jerusalem British World War I Cemetery on Mount Scopus

A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, or an electronic bus. A message can be the content of a broadcast. An interactive exchange of messages forms a conversation. The consumption of the message relies on how the recipient interprets the message, there are times where the recipient contradicts the intention of the message which results in a boomerang effect. Message fatigue is another outcome recipients can obtain if a message is conveyed too much by the source.

One example of a message is a press release, which may vary from a brief report or statement released by a public agency to commercial publicity material. Another example of a message is how they are portrayed to a consumer via an advertisement.

History

Main article: History of communication

Roles in human communication

In communication between humans, messages can be verbal or nonverbal:

• A verbal message is an exchange of information using words. Examples include face-to-face communication, telephone calls, voicemails, emails, etc.
• A nonverbal message is communicated through actions or behaviors rather than words, such as conscious or unconscious body language.

The phrase "send a message" or "sending a message" is also used for actions taken by a party to convey that party's attitude towards a certain thing. For example, a government that executes people who commit acts of treason is sending a message that treason will not be tolerated. Conversely, a party that appears through its actions to endorse something that it opposes can be said to be "sending the wrong message", while one which appears to simultaneously endorse contradictory things can be said to be sending "mixed messages".

In computer science

There are two main senses of the word "message" in computing: messages between the human users of computer systems that are delivered by those computer systems, and messages passed between programs or between components of a single program, for their purposes.

• Instant messaging and emails are examples of computer software designed for delivering human-readable messages in formatted or unformatted text, from one person to another.
• Message passing is a form of communication used in concurrent and parallel computing, object-oriented programming, and channel communicates, where communication is made by sending messages to recipients. In a related use of this sense of a message, in object-oriented programming language such as main library ["msg" box]Smalltalk or Java, a message is sent to an object, specifying a request for action.

Safety and privacy concerns

Safety and privacy concerns have been expressed in the computer science industry regarding messages. There have been cases where instant messaging apps were found to present a risk of spyware infection. Text messaging is one of the larger causes of distracted driving, and the act of texting and driving has been made illegal in many states as a result.

See also

• Airmail – Service which transports mail by air
• Amateur radio emergency communications – Fallback service
• Beacon – Device used to attract attention
• Communications satellite – Artificial satellite that relays radio signals
• Communication studies – Academic discipline
• Drums in communication – Drums used for long-distance signalling and communications
• Email – Mail sent using electronic means
• Emergency Alert System – Method of emergency broadcasting in the United States
• Encryption – Process of converting plaintext to ciphertext
• Express mail – Accelerated mail delivery service
• Flag semaphore – System to transmit information by hand
• Instant messaging – Form of computer communication over the internet or locally
• List of interstellar radio messages
• Mail – System for transporting documents and other small packages
• Message in a bottle – Form of communication
• Network packet – Formatted unit of data carried by a packet-switched network
• Optical telegraph – Tower-based signaling network
• Pioneer plaque – Plaques on the Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes with pictorial messages about humanity
• Pony Express – 1860–1861 mail service in the United States
• Radio – Use of radio waves to carry information
• Semaphore – Mechanical apparatus used to send messages
• Semiotics – Study of signs and sign processes
• Sign language – Language that uses manual communication and body language to convey meaning
• Smoke signal – Smoke used as a mode of communication
• SMS – Text messaging service component
• Telegraphy – Long distance transmission of text
• Telephony – Field of telecommunication services
• Television – Telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images
• Voicemail – Voice message storage and retrieval

External links

• Media related to Messages at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of message at Wiktionary
• Quotations related to Message at Wikiquote