1. A method of performing message-based discourse on computer and mobile devices, comprising the steps of: generating, at a first user device, a hierarchy of information, said hierarchy of information being represented by a tree having a plurality of nodes; selecting, at said first user device, a respective one of the plurality of nodes of the tree, each node corresponding to a respective topic within said hierarchy of information, each respective topic being indexed by a specified identifier; generating, at said first user device, a first message, including embedding, within said first message, at least one first data packet containing data representing said hierarchy of information, and appending, to said first message, said specified identifier indexing the respective topic; sending said first message from said first user device to said second user device; and decoding, at said second user device, said first data packet within said first message, thereby generating a representation of said hierarchy of information at said second user device, the representation of said hierarchy of information including an indication of the respective topic indexed by said specified identifier.