View source for Message

{{Short description|Discrete unit of communication}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Massage|Messuage}}

[[File:Glaspalast München 1891 062.jpg|thumb|240px|''Geheime Korrespondenz'' ''(secret correspondence)'', by Carl von Bergen]]
[[File:MountScopusHeadstone2.JPG|thumb|240px|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 [[communication source|source]] for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients.  A message may be delivered by various means, including [[courier]], [[telegraphy]], [[carrier pigeon]] and [[Bus (computing)|electronic bus]].
A message can be the content of a [[broadcasting|broadcast]].  An [[interactive]]
exchange of messages forms a conversation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Carney |first=Dan |date=2009-04-08 |title=Dashboards meet the 21st century |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/30091872/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/t/dashboards-meet-st-century/ |access-date=2019-11-05 |website=msnbc.com |language=en}}</ref>

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==
{{Main|History of communication}}
{{Expand section|date=March 2022}}

==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.<ref name="Cambridge">{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/send-a-message|title=Send a message definition |work=[[Cambridge English Dictionary]]|access-date=September 24, 2023}}</ref> Conversely, a party that appears through its actions to endorse something that it opposes can be said to be "sending the wrong message",<ref name="Cambridge"/> while one which appears to simultaneously endorse contradictory things can be said to be sending "mixed messages".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/mindfully/a-mixed-message-is-the-message-b6c9b36e6fa7|title=A Mixed Message is THE Message|first=A.|last=Marie|work=Medium|date=November 8, 2022}}</ref>

== 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 [[Event (computing)|messages]] passed between programs or between components of a [[Single transferable vote|single]] program, for their purposes.

* [[Instant messaging]] and [[e-mail|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  [[interprocess communication|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 (programming language)|Java]], a ''message'' is sent to an [[Object (computer science)|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.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/011119/hyderabad-whatsapp-is-vulnerable-to-spyware-attacks.html|title=Hyderabad: WhatsApp is vulnerable to spyware attacks |last=Sunku |first=Durgaprasad |date=2019-11-01 |work=Deccan Chronicle |access-date=2019-11-05}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Distracted Driving {{!}} NHTSA |url=https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=www.nhtsa.gov |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{Annotated link |Airmail}}
* {{Annotated link |Amateur radio emergency communications}}
* {{Annotated link |Beacon}}
* {{Annotated link |Communications satellite}}
* {{Annotated link |Communication studies}}
* {{Annotated link |Drums in communication}}
* {{Annotated link |Email}}
* {{Annotated link |Emergency Alert System}}
* {{Annotated link |Encryption}}
* {{Annotated link |Express mail}}
* {{Annotated link |Flag semaphore}}
* {{Annotated link |Instant messaging}}
* {{Annotated link |List of interstellar radio messages}}
* {{Annotated link |Mail}}
* {{Annotated link |Message in a bottle}}
* {{Annotated link |Network packet}}
* {{Annotated link |Optical telegraph}}
* {{Annotated link |Pioneer plaque}}
* {{Annotated link |Pony Express}}
* {{Annotated link |Radio}}
* {{Annotated link |Semaphore}}
* {{Annotated link |Semiotics}}
* {{Annotated link |Sign language}}
* {{Annotated link |Smoke signal}}
* {{Annotated link |SMS}}
* {{Annotated link |Telegraphy}}
* {{Annotated link |Telephony}}
* {{Annotated link |Television}}
* {{Annotated link |Voicemail}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{More citations needed|date=November 2019}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Messages}}
* {{wiktionary-inline}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Communication]]