"As part of this journey to 1 billion, we focused on creating the best possible experiences in modern day communications. We remain focused on helping connect people to the people and businesses who matter most," said David Marcus, VP of Messenger, in a statement. Facebook released a few more stats too: it now has over 18,000 bots on its Messenger platform, 10 percent of all VoIP calls are apparently made through Messenger and more than 22 million GIFs are sent via Messenger everyday. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Facebook has unveiled a special celebratory balloon emoji on Messenger that you can send to your friends and family starting today.