The BBM messaging style has crossed over into the broader smartphone market, and Kik is the trailblazing pioneer.

Kik is a real-time messenger, similar to BBM. But one isn’t limited to only talking to those who have a Blackberry. The instant messenger is available to those who have Blackberries, iPhones, iPod Touches, and Androids.

“I like it a lot; it’s really easy to talk to people,” said sophomore Steph Cohen, a T-Mobile myTouch Slide owner. “Since I don’t have the Blackberry and BBM, it’s nice to have a messenger for all Androids and smartphones.”

Since its relaunch on Oct. 21, Kik skyrocketed past 600,000 uswers by Nov. 3, averaging one million messages an hour, according to their website.

But it’s not without problems. Multiple Facebook statuses described troubles for the viral messaging program.

“Messaging to BlackBerry devices is currently delayed by up to 1 hour,” read Kik’s Friday status. “We have contacted Research in Motion about the problem, and hope to have a fix from them as soon as possible. Please stand by.”

Dating back to August, Kik identified troubles, including a time where “the server exploded :(.”

The free application has a similar messaging system to BBM; different letters appear at the side of the message to inform the person if their message has been sent (S), delivered (D) and read (R). The conversation appears like a live feed, keeping the conversation flowing.