![]() ![]() As Americans embraced instant messaging at the office and at home, AIM was the site of everything from mundane work chats to teenagers’ daring romantic confessions. The 2000s brought soaring popularity that drove AIM’s user base up to more than 61 million and its staff up to 100. Slack, Facebook Messenger, Discord and countless other direct messaging features built into social media apps use the same basic structure that AIM first proposed. Today, instant messaging has remained virtually unchanged. Users could log on and instantly ping messages back and forth, remotely chatting with friends, colleagues and loved ones. At its peak, AOL was responsible for up to half of all CD-ROMs produced, giving users unlimited internet access for $20 a month.īut unlike AOL’s core services-which were only available for a fee-AIM was available as a free standalone app and open source code. Gordon’s experiences with AIM as both a nostalgic childhood chat space for talking about video games with friends and a platform for professional communication demonstrate just how deeply AIM shaped the way people communicate online. “It turned out my old handle was still functional, and I was happy to use this slightly more professional option.” “When I started working at Pitchfork in 2014, the internal office communications system was, somehow, AIM,” Gordon says. Unexpectedly, AIM popped up again in Gordon’s life more than a decade later, and he appreciated the simplicity of his original screen name. “Nobody is allowed to see what I was posting about Pokemon when I was 11.” “I will not share that one here, I'm sorry to say, because some of those message board posts are still active,” Gordon adds. He quickly acquired a second screen name, which synced with the handle he used on video game forums. “My AIM screen name was JeremyG495, which I set up with the help of my father in either 1998 or 1999,” says Gordon in an email. This will include your Buddy List from chat and any files that were uploaded through the services.Long before writer Jeremy Gordon covered music and pop culture for the New York Times and The Outline, he was an elementary schooler who logged onto AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) for the very first time. And it captivated all of us.Īll your data associated with AIM will be deleted on December 15, 2017. In the late 1990’s, the world had never seen anything like it. You might also remember how characters throughout pop culture from “You’ve Got Mail” to “Sex and the City” used AIM to help navigate their relationships. Right now you might be reminiscing about how you had to compete for time on the home computer in order to chat with friends outside of school. You likely remember the CD, your first screenname, your carefully curated away messages, and how you organized your buddy lists. ![]() If you were a 90’s kid, chances are there was a point in time when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was a huge part of your life. In a statement released on tumblr by Michael Albers, the VP of Communications Product at Oath, the company reminisced on old times while looking forward to new ones. All files will continue to be available in this log until you delete them. Double click the one you’d like to view and it will open. Here you’ll see a saved file for each of the screen names or group names from your Buddy List. Double click on the folder with your screen name.ĥ. Click on the spotlight icon on the menu bar in the top right corner of your desktop.Ĥ. ![]() All files will continue to be available in this log until you delete them.ġ. When the folder opens, double click on your screen name.Ĥ. Type AIM Logs and press the Enter key on your keyboard once the results are displayed.ģ. Click the search box located in the bottom left corner of your screen next to your Start button.Ģ. Note that images and files are not saved with the chat logs and must be manually saved.ġ. All chat threads must be saved before December 15, 2017. You also need to be able to sign in to your old account. The answer is yes as long as you or your buddy never disabled the option to save a copy of your chats. Thank you to all our users! #AIMemories /V09Fl7EPMx ![]()
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