The Lasting Influence of AIM
Every night for the majority of my middle school and high school years, I spent way too much time on AIM. Sitting at the small white desk in the corner of my room, early aught pop-punk music blasting away. I log in as ‘rockchick4241’, chat with friends I saw just hours ago, spending time on sketchy websites to find the perfect flash animated GIF for my buddy icon, and changing my away message to a new set of perfectly angsty song lyrics every week. We all did it, right?
If you’re a millennial, then that answer is most likely yes. Or at least I hope it is so I feel just a little more justified in revealing the regular online routine of my pre-teen and teen years. (And judging by the Twitter outcry when it was announced, I think I am right.)
If so, we all likely have fond, nostalgic memories of those days. But besides laughing at our own cringe-worthy behavior, what can we gain from thinking about AIM as one of the first social media services?
AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, was quietly introduced by Microsoft in 1997. AOL as a company didn’t have much faith in the product, especially being rolled out as a free service. The only reason it survived was the dedication of its small team of developers constantly fighting for its survival. Even with rapidly growing popularity in the early 2000s, AOL still wasn’t thrilled with AIM because, again, it was free. (Abbruzzese, 2014)
AIM was not the first online chat service, but it certainly was the most popular in its time. “At its peak in 2001, AIM had 36 million active users…” (Sklar, 2017) Despite not being first, it was truly a pioneer in the history of internet chat services.
“AIM added elements that appeared years ahead of other companies. It rolled out voice chat before Skype. It added file transfer. It launched chatbots people could interact with, as well as a stock ticker and a news ticker. The engineers also began exploring the mobile space just as text messaging was beginning to catch on. AIM introduced the ability to chat with mobile phones.” (Abbruzzese, 2014)
But, as with all mighty empires, AIM began to fall. AOL wouldn’t support the sort of product innovation that would be necessary to keep AIM alive and competing with new social media platforms. “…a 2011 report said AIM held a 0.7% share of the world messenger market.” (Abbruzzese, 2014) The decision was announced in October of 2017 that AIM would be permanently shut down on December 15th, 2017. (Sklar, 2017)
So, why do I bring AIM up now, in 2021? We are 3 and half years past its shutdown, and two decades past its recorded height of popularity. Is it because I was feeling a little nostalgic and wanted to remember the good old days? Well…maybe a little. But more importantly, it is important to look back on old social media platforms to realize the influence they still have on our media landscape.
No matter what new type of social media platform gets created, there are remnants of AIM in them. No matter how different the overall concept for the app, AIM still manages to find a way.
Everything from Instagram to Snapchat to Facebook to TikTok has a direct chat function. They utilize some form of list to show who your friends or followers are. They often have a way to show you who is active or not (first known in AIM as ‘away’ or ‘offline’). And not only can we as consumers see the similarities between these platforms’ chat functions, but their creators also admit to it being a direct inspiration.
“Even Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook’s original chat feature as a reaction to the way AIM was designed. Zuckerberg’s version, now known as Facebook Messenger, has a few improvements, but the basics are all there: a buddy list, online activity statuses, and the ability to chat one on one, or in a group.” (Sklar, 2017)
With all the useful features that AIM brought us, it would be irresponsible of me to not mention the dark side. AIM, unfortunately, was a place where people could communicate with anyone around the world. It was used by people for a lot of problematic reasons, including catfishing and cyberbullying. The relative anonymity of using a random username made people too bold, and those problems have only gotten worse and more sophisticated.
We as a social media-using society owe a lot to AIM and its functionality. This is why it is cemented as a pioneer in the age of social media, and we still see its direct influence to this day.
References:
Abbruzzese, J. (2014, April 15). The Rise and Fall of AIM, the Breakthrough AOL Never Wanted. Mashable. https://mashable.com/2014/04/15/aim-history/
Sklar, J. (2017, December 14). AOL Instant Messenger Made Social Media What It Is Today. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved May 15, 2021, from https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/12/14/67582/aol-instant-messenger-made-social-media-what-it-is-today/
Tesema, M. (2017, October 7). AOL Instant Messenger is being laid to rest and the internet is mourning very loudly. Mashable. Retrieved May 15, 2021, from https://mashable.com/2017/10/06/death-of-aim-reactions/
