Example of embedding arbitrary data / text into a contract to be sent to another account?

Question

Since users can create smart contracts, can't someone just embed plain text into the smart contract and then have that sent to another user in effect making it a messaging system? and how much would each message cost per byte?

Answer 1

Yes, this is possible and quite simple, but not necessarily advisable. Some things to keep in mind:

1. All messages need to be encrypted off-chain. Otherwise anyone can read all of your communication
2. Storage is expensive. It's not incredibly cost-prohibitive, but users would need to buy ether and keep their accounts funded. Costs can be reduced by using Events instead of storage.
3. Whisper is a messaging system based on the Ethereum p2p protocol that would be more suited to this application. It is separate from the blockchain and does not require Ether.