AIM

Almost everyone recognizes the iconic Running Man that served as the mascot for AIM. AOL Instant Messenger was the standard for instant messaging for almost 20 years. It was easy to use, effective, and gave Internet users a way to communicate with friends and family in real time. Some would even argue that AIM was essential in creating the global community that we associate with the Internet. At one time, AIM was used by 52% of individuals who sent instant messages. It's first incarnation was as an add-on to the America Online Internet service. The only way to use the messenger was to use AOL. When individuals logged into their AOL account, a small box would appear in the bottom corner of the screen. This box would show a list of contacts, and it also indicated whether or not the contact was online. In the early days, many people did not understand how to hide their availability. Your friends and family could easily determine when you were web surfing. Later, AIM was developed as a download for Windows that did not require AOL. This was done in response to competition from other enterprises such as Yahoo and Microsoft. AIM began to be developed for mobile platforms in 2008, but this was the beginning of the end. Other chat programs simply passed AIM in what they could offer. It was decided in 2017 that AIM would be discontinued. The number of users had been declining steadily in recent years. Many considered the sunset of AIM to be the end of an era.