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Messages are best classified by what they do, not just by their format. A text can give information, ask for action, express a feeling, maintain a relationship, or do several of these at once. To identify its main function, ask what the sender is trying to accomplish, what response the message invites, and how the relationship and medium affect its meaning.
What message categories describe
A message category is a way to describe a communicative purpose or function. The label depends on the question being asked: a teacher might classify a whole text as informative or persuasive, while a communication researcher might examine the action performed by one sentence or the support offered in a personal exchange.
These systems are tools for analysis, not a single universal taxonomy. A message can have a primary function and a secondary one, and its wording alone may not reveal the sender’s full intent. Context, the relationship between people, and the surrounding conversation all matter.
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A practical way to identify a message’s function
- Ask what the sender is doing. Are they sharing information, requesting or directing action, making a commitment, expressing a feeling, keeping in touch, coordinating plans, or offering support?
- Notice the response the message invites. The recipient may be expected to understand, act, acknowledge, reassure, or continue the conversation.
- Consider the situation, relationship, and medium. A short request or greeting can carry different implications between friends, family members, colleagues, or an institution. A text, email, and spoken exchange may also provide different context.
- Allow more than one label. A message can both convey information and strengthen a relationship. Name the main function, then include a secondary one when it clarifies the message.
- State the framework you are using. A school text-type label, a speech-act category, and a support category classify different things.
This is a practical interpretive method, not a validated diagnostic test. Use it to describe likely functions rather than claim certainty about hidden intent.
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Common frameworks for classifying messages
Broad text types: imaginative, informative, and persuasive
For school and writing contexts, the Australian Curriculum glossary groups texts broadly as imaginative, informative, or persuasive. It cautions that the distinctions are “neither static nor watertight” and that a text can belong to more than one type (Australian Curriculum, Version 8.4 glossary). These labels are useful for describing the overall kind of text, but they are not a complete classification system for interpersonal messages.
Speech acts: what an utterance does
Speech-act frameworks classify the action performed by an utterance. One account of the taxonomy associated with J. R. Searle uses five categories:
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- Assertives: statements that commit the speaker to a proposition, such as reporting a fact.
- Directives: attempts to get the recipient to do something, such as asking them to call.
- Commissives: commitments by the speaker to a future action, such as promising to help.
- Expressives: expressions of a psychological state, such as saying “I’m sorry.”
- Declaratives: utterances that bring about a change when spoken by someone with the necessary authority, such as formally appointing a person to a role.
This approach focuses on what an utterance does, not on its length or whether it appears in a text, email, or conversation. A study applying Searle’s taxonomy to SMS notes a limitation of treating categories as mutually exclusive: a brief message may perform multiple acts, and the surrounding conversation can affect its interpretation (SMS speech-act study).
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A 2021 corpus-based study by Douglas Biber, Jesse Egbert, Daniel Keller, and Stacey Wizner analyzed 2.3 million words of conversational interactions from the British National Corpus 2014. The researchers identified 16 discourse types associated with nine general communicative purposes, including conveying information and expressing personal stance, feelings, and evaluation. In that corpus, information-focused discourse types were as common as personal-stance types; that finding describes this particular sample, not conversation everywhere (Biber, Egbert, Keller, and Wizner, 2021).
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Text-message functions: practical and relational purposes
Text messages can exchange practical information while also managing relationships. Crispin Thurlow’s 2003 study distinguished informational-practical messages (such as practical details or direct information requests), informational-relational exchanges (information linked to solidarity or favors), practical arrangements, and more explicitly relational messages such as greetings and relationship maintenance.
In Thurlow’s sample of 544 messages, two thirds were coded as explicitly relational in orientation, while informational messaging accounted for as little as 15% of the message codings. These figures reflect that study’s sample and coding choices; they are not estimates of current texting overall (Thurlow, 2003). A separate study of email and SMS examines their use for planning and coordination, illustrating how function can be shaped by both medium and relationship (study of email and SMS communication).
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Supportive-message categories: what kind of help is offered
When the question is how someone offers support, a more focused set of labels can be useful. A study of text-based messages in concerned-significant-other relationships used these categories:
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- Esteem support: reassurance about someone’s worth or confidence.
- Network support: a sense of connection or belonging.
- Informational support: information or advice.
- Tangible assistance: material or practical aid.
- Unsupportive messages: messages that offered no support.
These labels help analyze support in that context; they are not intended to classify every kind of message (study of computer-mediated support and communication).
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Why greetings and small talk still count
Not every meaningful message is meant to convey new facts. The British Council describes phatic communication as verbal or nonverbal communication with a social function, such as greeting someone, starting a conversation, or saying goodbye, rather than an informative function (British Council, “Phatic communication”).
“How’s it going?” may primarily open or maintain social contact rather than request a detailed report. The same teaching resource notes that a language learner might interpret “What’s up?” as a question requiring a literal answer. Recognizing the phatic function helps explain why a brief greeting can matter even when it adds little factual information.
How to choose the right framework
Choose categories according to what you need to understand, rather than treating different frameworks as rival universal systems.
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|---|---|---|---|
| Broad text types | A whole text, such as imaginative, informative, or persuasive writing | What kind of text is this? | Useful in curriculum and writing contexts; categories can overlap (Australian Curriculum glossary). |
| Speech acts | An utterance’s action, such as asserting, directing, or expressing | What is the speaker doing with these words? | A message may perform more than one act, and context affects interpretation (SMS speech-act study). |
| Conversational discourse types | Coherent units of conversation and their communicative goals | What purpose does this stretch of conversation serve? | The 16 types and nine purposes were identified in a particular corpus, not established as universal categories (Biber, Egbert, Keller, and Wizner, 2021). |
| Text-message function categories | Practical, informational, and relational functions in SMS | Is this exchange mainly practical, relational, or both? | Thurlow’s findings describe a 2003 sample of 544 messages, not present-day messaging overall (Thurlow, 2003). |
| Support categories | The kind of help or lack of support expressed | What kind of support, if any, does the message offer? | Developed for text-based messages in concerned-significant-other relationships (study of computer-mediated support and communication). |
Examples: identifying primary and secondary functions
- “The appointment is at 3 p.m.” Primarily informative: it conveys a practical detail. Depending on the exchange, it may also coordinate a plan.
- “Could you call me when you arrive?” A directive: it requests action. The relationship and situation may add urgency or a relational meaning.
- “I’ll pick up the groceries.” A commissive because the sender commits to future action; it may also be tangible support.
- “Hey, how are you?” Often phatic or relational when it opens contact, though it can also invite a genuine update.
- “You’ve got this. I’m here if you need me.” It may offer esteem and emotional support, while also maintaining connection.
The examples illustrate possible readings, not fixed meanings. The surrounding exchange can shift which function is most important.
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