Systems and methods are provided for displaying a graphical input stream comprising a plurality of keys, a first subset of which is a character set source and a second subset of which provides a message effect source. A first user input from the character set source forms an original multi-word message that is displayed in a message area. A second user input from the message effect source applies a corresponding message effect to only the multi-word message thereby forming a transformed representation. The multi-word message displayed in the message area is replaced with the transformed representation. Upon receipt of a third user input to transmit the contents of the message area, the original multi-word message and an indication of the message effect is transmitted.