10 days ago
3
0
Posted On: October 26th 2026, 03:08 pm
The first username you ever defended.
AIM launched in 1997. For a lot of us it was the first place we were a name instead of a person: a screen name you chose at 13 and then had to live with, a buddy list that was a social hierarchy, and away messages that did the emotional labor of a status update years before statuses existed.
AOL discontinued AIM on December 15, 2017, twenty years in. The buddy lists, profiles and chat logs that were not saved went with it.
Every username system since is AIM with better graphics. The screen name walked so the handle could run.
What was yours? Ours is a story for another post.
#RetroTech #VintageTech #OldTech
AIM launched in 1997. For a lot of us it was the first place we were a name instead of a person: a screen name you chose at 13 and then had to live with, a buddy list that was a social hierarchy, and away messages that did the emotional labor of a status update years before statuses existed.
AOL discontinued AIM on December 15, 2017, twenty years in. The buddy lists, profiles and chat logs that were not saved went with it.
Every username system since is AIM with better graphics. The screen name walked so the handle could run.
What was yours? Ours is a story for another post.
#RetroTech #VintageTech #OldTech
More posts
