These are the profile pictures of people who send you Facebook messages or text messages via Messenger.

WSJ: Facebook Home Review: Facebook Gets a Lock on Phones

You can see with a single swipe the messages that are waiting to be read, and having your incoming messages (be they email, text, BlackBerry messenger, Facebook, and so on) in one consistent interface makes them much easier to handle during a busy day.

FORBES: The BlackBerry Z10 Might Not Be A Stunning Smartphone, But It Gets The Job Done

Facebook is going after the SMS text messaging business, opening up its Facebook Messenger app to a broader set of users.

FORBES: Facebook Messenger Takes On SMS, With No Account Needed

Facebook Messenger might as well be as ubiquitous as SMS text messaging for some, but there's a catch to getting everyone to agree: despite there being over a billion Facebook users, not everyone is able (or willing) to fire up a social networking profile to get started.

ENGADGET: Facebook Messenger allows sign-ups with just a name and phone number on Android devices

Research In Motion (RIM) has added the facility to its Blackberry Messenger (BBM) app, which already offered an alternative to text messages.

BBC: Blackberry introduces free wi-fi calls on BBM chat tool

BlackBerry Messenger, iMessenger and Gchat are all slowly taking texting's place, but we still text one another.

ENGADGET: This is the Modem World: Why are we still texting?