<p>Sources confirm Facebook will test the option to send private messages from its website's homepage status composer to increase messaging rates. It will also help Facebook compete with Google, whose web chat presence is strong, and just combined its Gmail, Google+, and mobile chat systems into Hangouts. It's a risky move, as users could accidentally post private messages as status updates.</p><p>Multiple sources say that starting with a small percentage of users, Facebook plans to integrate messaging into the prominent status update and photo uploading box that sits atop the homepage. Users will be able to switch between posting to the news feed and privately communicating with select friends. I've reached out to Facebook for an official confirmation and statement regarding the test of status composer messaging.</p><p>Currently, users have to click a relatively tiny, untitled messaging icon in the top right of the screen to start or continue a private message thread. That means users might forget or be less likely to send messages than if the feature was better highlighted.</p><p>Boosting The Pace Of Conversation</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/02/facebook-status-composer-messaging/">Keep reading...</a></p>