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,

carrier pigeon The homing pigeon, also called the mail pigeon or messenger pigeon, is a variety of domestic pigeons (''Columba livia domestica'') derived from the wild rock dove, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distan ...

and electronic bus. A message can be the content of a

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

. An

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

exchange of messages forms a conversation. 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.

History

Roles in human communication

In communication between humans, messages can be verbal or

nonverbal Nonverbal communication (NVC) is the transmission of messages or signals through a nonverbal platform such as eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and body language. It includes the use of social cues, kinesics, distance (proxemic ...

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

In computer science

There are two main senses of the word "message" in computing: messages between the human users of

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

systems that are delivered by those computer systems, and

messages 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, carrier pigeon and electronic bus. A ...

passed between programs or between components of a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

program, for their own 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 Parallel computing is a type of computation in which many calculations or processes are carried out simultaneously. Large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which can then be solved at the same time. There are several different fo ...

, object-oriented programming, and channel communicate, 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 malltalk or Java, a ''message'' is sent to an

object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an ai ...

, 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.

References

External links