History of AIM, the most important early Internet chat application

If I was an Internet user at the turn of the century, there’s a good chance I could play the door opening sound for one second and the memories would come back instantly. Memories of coming home from school and logging into AOL Instant Messenger to chat with your friends or crush. Maybe memories of how AIM changed the way your company does business. Definitely the memories of your old screen name, and the angry song lyrics you put in your distant post.

AIM was, for a time, the hottest chat application on the Internet. It also barely managed to continue to exist. The app was created by a semi-rogue team within AOL, and was hated by executives who wanted to keep AOL as the powerful walled garden it once was. But once AIM launched, it became practically undeniable. AOL never figured out how to make money from AIM, or how to pivot its strategy around the hugely influential messaging service, but AIM became an Internet icon anyway.

on This episode of Release datewe tell the story of the rise of AIM, its importance to multiple generations of Internet users, and its eventual inability to keep up with social networking, texting, and other messaging apps. David Pearce, Victoria songauthor and journalist Kyle Chayka Document the creation of the platform within AOL, try to understand why it was so important to the life of the Internet for a while, and wonder what might have happened if AIM had still existed.

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And if you want to learn more about AIM, and maybe spend a few minutes reliving a simpler time online, here are some links to get you started: