System and method for increasing clarity and expressiveness in network communications

1. A method comprising:

obtaining a message from a first user as part of a network-enabled conversation with a second user;

analyzing the message to identify an expressiveness keyword indicative of an emotion, mood, or level of expressiveness;

selecting a level or degree of emotional expressiveness to which a corresponding emotion or mood should be expressed in relation to the identified expressiveness keyword;

applying, by use of a processor, at least one embellishment to the message to produce an embellished message, the embellishment including either an explicitly user-selected embellishment or an automatically generated embellishment based on content of the message, the at least one embellishment being configured in a manner consistent with the selected level or degree of emotional expressiveness, the embellished message including configuration data encoded therewith corresponding to the at least one embellishment, the configuration data including a plurality of data values defining particular embellishment properties of the at least one embellishment; and

causing transmission of the embellished message via a network to the second user.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 including enabling the first user to compose the message using an interface from the group consisting of: a keypad interface and a voice interface.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 including enabling the first user to purchase an embellishment and applying the user-purchased embellishment to the message.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the selecting of the level or degree of emotional expressiveness is performed automatically based on user behavior.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the selecting of the level or degree of emotional expressiveness is performed automatically by default based on content of the message.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 including:

receiving a message from a first user via a network;

determining if the message includes configuration data for configuring embellishment properties of the message;

if the message includes configuration data for configuring embellishment properties of the message, decoding, by use of a processor, the configuration data and generating an embellished message with the corresponding embellishment properties;

if the message does not include configuration data for configuring embellishment properties of the message, automatically generating embellishment properties based on content of the message and generating an embellished message with the corresponding embellishment properties; and

displaying the embellished message for the second user as part of a network-enabled conversation with the first user.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 including enabling the second user to browse messages of the conversation.

8. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the embellishment properties include an avatar.

9. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the embellishment properties include instructions to animate an avatar.

10. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the received message is a non-embellished message received from a sender.

11. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the conversation is displayed to the first and second users as a plurality of embellished messages presented in a plurality of comic book-style panels.

12. A system comprising:

a data processor;

a network connection, in data communication with the processor, for access to a network; and

a message processing system module, executable by the processor, to:

obtain a message from a first user as part of a network-enabled conversation with a second user;

analyze the message to identify an expressiveness keyword indicative of an emotion, mood, or level of expressiveness;

select a level or degree of emotional expressiveness to which a corresponding emotion or mood should be expressed in relation to the identified expressiveness keyword;

apply at least one embellishment to the message to produce an embellished message, the embellishment including either an explicitly user-selected embellishment or an automatically generated embellishment based on content of the message, the at least one embellishment being configured in a manner consistent with the selected level or degree of emotional expressiveness, the embellished message including configuration data encoded therewith corresponding to the at least one embellishment, the configuration data including a plurality of data values defining particular embellishment properties of the at least one embellishment; and

cause transmission of the embellished message via a network to the second user.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12 being further configured to enable the first user to compose the message using an interface from the group consisting of: a keypad interface and a voice interface.

14. The system as claimed in claim 12 being further configured to enable the first user to purchase an embellishment and applying the user-purchased embellishment to the message.

15. The system as claimed in claim 12 being further configured to select the level or degree of emotional expressiveness automatically based on user behavior.

16. The system as claimed in claim 12 being further configured to select the level or degree of emotional expressiveness automatically by default based on content of the message.

17. The system as claimed in claim 12 being further configured to:

receive a message from a first user via a network;

determine if the message includes configuration data for configuring embellishment properties of the message;

if the message includes configuration data for configuring embellishment properties of the message, decode the configuration data and generate an embellished message with the corresponding embellishment properties;

if the message does not include configuration data for configuring embellishment properties of the message, automatically generate embellishment properties based on content of the message and generate an embellished message with the corresponding embellishment properties; and

display the embellished message for the second user as part of a network-enabled conversation with the first user.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17 being further configured to enable the second user to browse messages of the conversation.

19. The system as claimed in claim 17 wherein the embellishment properties include an avatar.

20. A non-transitory machine-useable storage medium embodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

obtain a message from a first user as part of a network-enabled conversation with a second user;

analyze the message to identify an expressiveness keyword indicative of an emotion, mood, or level of expressiveness;

select a level or degree of emotional expressiveness to which a corresponding emotion or mood should be expressed in relation to the identified expressiveness keyword;

apply at least one embellishment to the message to produce an embellished message, the embellishment including either an explicitly user-selected embellishment or an automatically generated embellishment based on content of the message, the at least one embellishment being configured in a manner consistent with the selected level or degree of emotional expressiveness, the embellished message including configuration data encoded therewith corresponding to the at least one embellishment, the configuration data including a plurality of data values defining particular embellishment properties of the at least one embellishment; and

cause transmission of the embellished message via a network to the second user.