After 20 Years, It’s Time to Say Goodbye to AOL’s Instant Messenger

Before there was Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, AND Google Talk there was AOL's AIM (AOL Instant Messenger).

For many of us, AIM was our first foray into the world of social communication and networking. I remember AOL discs showing up in the mail at my house when I was a kid; my parents always threw them away, and it was years before I understood what they really were - essentially the future of technology, internet, social media and networking. In the years to follow, with the coming of the internet, social media and instant messengers - some of the original instant messengers lost their place. MSN Messenger closed in 2014 and Yahoo Messenger closed in 2016.

As way of collectively saying goodbye to AIM, I suggest we all watch "You've Got Mail" on December 15th. I'll provide the Squeezits and cheese balls, for old time's sake.