It was part of a cultural moment where its level of virtual interactivity was still new and exciting: when making friends on the internet was still a scary and exhilarating experience when chatting with a crush for hours online was often easier than talking to them at school the next day when that familiar sound of a door opening as a friend arrived online could perk your interest, and that familiar “new message” Ping! could trigger real emotions when a carefully chosen username or a carefully chosen quote, in a carefully selected font, set to serve as your “Away message” could say more about your personality than anything else. flashback-to-the-90s/ TumblrĪIM offered us that first crucial taste of the interactive world we now occupy and take for granted. It was designed by JoRoan Lazaro, who told the Atlantic in 2014 that he had been inspired by the round, well-defined shape-figures of post-war logos and trademarks. ![]() Its logo, a little yellow running man who greeted you by eagerly racing to sign in, is now iconic. Solid SignalĪIM’s design, with its bright colors and square shapes, would become indelibly associated with nostalgia for ‘90s internet culture. This move meant that AOL had a much deeper reach into our homes than any would-be competitors. But in a stroke of genius, which the company’s owners initially hated, AOL developers chose to make their first chat client, AIM, free to download for non-AOL users as well. But it was the instant-messaging client that most widely proliferated at a moment when the internet was just starting to become a real part of people’s daily lives.ĪOL was the first major internet service provider that many Americans experienced back in the mid-’90s, and most of its products were available for AOL users only. It wasn’t the web’s first instant-messaging client - a different one called IRC preceded it by nearly a decade. AIM entered an entire generation’s lives as part of the internet’s great cultural osmosisĪOL Instant Messenger was born in 1997. AIM was the chat client for a generation, one that left an indelible mark on the way we talk to each other online. AIMīut that doesn’t negate its cultural influence, or its influence over the many messaging apps that have emerged in its wake. The famed chat client more commonly known as AIM is one of the internet’s longest-lasting cultural touchstones, and one of the few pieces of software that arguably changed how people interact with each other.ĪOL announced in October that the beloved program would be shutting down for good on December 15 - and broke the news on a Tumblr called AIM Memories, a strong indicator of how firmly relegated to nostalgia AOL Instant Messenger had already become. The layout’s pretty snazzy: it’ll show you your contact buddy picture, and their message in a nice, clear box, along with a time stamp.After 20 years, the time has come to say a final goodbye to AOL Instant Messenger. ![]() Tapping a conversation will take you into a standard IM conversation where you can read your correspondent’s messages or send them a reply. The app displays a list of all of your current IM conversations, including the number of unread messages you have for each of them. The My Info pane shows you your picture (which you can tap to change) and lets you change your status to Available, Away, or Invisible, and set a status message by tapping Message.įinally, the IM section: the meat and potatoes of any instant messaging client. You can remove contacts from favorites if you like by tapping the Edit button or by swiping across the contact’s screenname. The favorites list is just a list of your favorite contacts it displays like any of the groups, but shows you both online and offline contacts. ![]() Two buttons let you send the user an IM or add them to your favorites list. You can edit the group or nickname if you wish, though somewhat disappointingly, there doesn’t seem to be an automatic tie-in with the iPhone’s contacts database. ![]() You’ll also notice a blue arrow next to their screenname that will give you that user’s profile, which includes their buddy icon, status message, group, and nickname.
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