System and method for managing digital content items

A system and method for sorting and managing messages within an interface can include detecting initiation of a gesture input at a digital content item rendered in a user interface; tracking the gesture input; determining, based on the tracked gesture input, a current gesture state from a set of gesture states; identifying an action mapped to the current gesture state; and upon detecting a termination of the gesture input, selecting the action mapped to the current gesture state as a selected action; and applying the selected action to the digital content item. Gesture input can be used to sort and manage digital content items such as email messages, for instance by moving a message from one collection to another.