AOL Instant Messenger, one of the pioneering programs in the instant messaging landscape, offered a way to communicate quickly over the internet. Its functionality was crucial in the evolution of online communication.

Instant messaging (IM) has become an integral part of modern communication, allowing individuals to instantly chat with one another from anywhere. AOL Instant Messenger was a major contributor to the widespread adoption of this technology, making real-time online conversations mainstream.

What exactly is IM? By installing a small program, users can exchange brief, real-time text messages with others online. Unlike emails, IMs enable immediate back-and-forth exchanges, making it an ideal tool for swift conversations.

AOL Instant Messenger was discontinued in late 2017, yet it still maintains a dedicated following. Let's take a moment to look back and remember this iconic software and its key features, both basic and advanced, that users cherished.

AOL Instant Messenger: A Brief History

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), one of the earliest and most popular IM programs, made its debut in 1997, just a year after ICQ—the first publicly available IM client. At its peak, AIM reached 33 million monthly active users, with over 6 million online at any given moment [source: AOL].

As time went on, AIM added new features, including the ability to share photos, videos, music, and files. It also introduced internet phone and video calls, expanding its capabilities far beyond simple text messaging.

Though AIM was once an essential part of the internet culture in the late 1990s and early 2000s, by the time it was discontinued in 2017, it had become outdated. The rise of mobile-centric apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp ultimately replaced it in the messaging market.

Utilizing AIM

To begin using AOL Instant Messenger, one needed to sign up for a screen name, which acted like an email address for IM. If anyone wished to send you a message, they'd need your screen name. Here's how to sign up for one and set up a profile:

After acquiring a screen name, you would need to download the AIM software client. When you first launched AIM, it would prompt you to search your existing email contacts for buddies. In AIM, "Buddies" referred to your contacts. AIM would scan your Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, and Microsoft Outlook accounts for people who also had AIM screen names. You would then have the option to add those screen names to your Buddy List, an organized collection of IM contacts associated with your account.

Upon opening AIM, you’d see a main window that displayed your Buddy List, divided into various groups. The default groups included Buddies, Family, Co-Workers, and AIM Bots (automated contacts for things like movie times or stock quotes). You could create additional groups by selecting "Add Group" from the Edit menu.

Locating AIM Clients

To add a new contact to a group, you would go to the Edit menu and select "Add Buddy." Then, you’d choose the group for that contact and could also enter extra details, such as their email address and mobile phone number.

Your Buddy List showed you which of your contacts were currently online and which ones were offline. Online contacts were displayed under their respective groups, while those offline were placed at the bottom in a group labeled "Offline."

Sending Instant Messages

The simplest way to send an IM was by messaging someone from your Buddy List. There were two main methods to do this:

If you wanted to send an IM to someone who wasn’t on your Buddy List, you'd go to the AIM menu in the main window and choose "New IM." You’d then be prompted to type in the screen name of the person you wanted to reach.

Once the IM window was open, sending a message was simple. You’d type your message into the white text box at the bottom of the IM window. After typing, you could either press the enter key on your keyboard or click the "send" button in the bottom right corner. The text you entered would appear in the top section of the window, and when your friend replied, their message would show beneath yours, just like a regular conversation.

Saving and Blocking AIM Users

You could save your IM conversations by selecting "Save Window" from the File menu. This would allow you to reopen the conversation later and continue where you left off.

AIM would alert you with a tone whenever you received a new IM. If someone who wasn’t on your Buddy List sent you a message, you'd see a notification saying, "[screen name] has sent you an IM. Do you want to read it?" You could always choose to ignore the message or even block that screen name from sending you IMs in the future.

AIM's Chat Feature

If you wanted to message multiple people at once, you could create a temporary chat room and invite all the participants. Here's how to set up a chat:

A chat room functioned just like a regular IM. To send a message to everyone in the group, you'd type it in the text box and press enter or click the send button.

Subsequent Features for AIM

One of the later additions to AIM was the ability to send instant messages as text messages to cell phones. To do this, you would need to have the recipient's cell phone number.

AIM introduced a feature called IM forwarding, which would forward your IMs to your cell phone when you were away from your computer. To activate IM forwarding, you would go to the Edit menu and click on Settings. In the Settings window, you'd select Mobile and register your cell phone for IM forwarding. You could even reply to forwarded IMs by sending text messages from your cell phone.

AIM Phoneline Services

AIM was capitalizing on the popularity of Voice Over IP (VoIP) telephony by offering free internet phone calls to other AIM users. To make internet phone calls through AIM, you'd need a headset with a built-in microphone or a computer with speakers and a microphone.

AIM Call Out was another VoIP service, and this one was similar to Skype. You could call any phone number directly from AIM, but you'd be charged by the minute.

AIM File-Sharing

File-sharing was another useful feature of AIM. You could easily send individual files or whole file folders to any other AIM user. Here's how it worked:

AIM 6.5 introduced a special 'Pictures' button for sharing photos. This feature allowed users to drag and drop images directly into the IM window. The photos would automatically resize and be sent to the recipient either as individual images or as part of a slideshow.

With the launch of AIM 6.5, AOL expanded social networking opportunities for users. You could now create a public or private profile page where you could share photos, hobbies, and links. These pages also included links to your friends' profiles. To view your profile, simply go to the AIM menu and select 'Open My Profile.'

AIM Express and Other Products

More and more, computer users are relying on instant messaging to keep in touch with friends, even when they're away from home. AIM Express allowed users to send instant messages to their friends without needing to download or install any software. It worked directly within any web browser, providing convenience for those unable to access AIM otherwise.

Friends could chat with each other from virtually any location, as long as they had access to a computer with an internet connection. Whether they were at home, in school, or at work, AIM Express worked just like the full version of AIM. It loaded your complete Buddy List, and any new contacts or groups you added would be synced with your desktop version the next time you logged in. Additionally, AOL Mail could be accessed through two email icons located at the bottom of the window.

AIM Share

AIM Share was another web service that enabled users to send links or broadcast messages to all their buddies at once. You could either visit the AIM Share website or install a dedicated AIM Share button on your browser toolbar for easy access.

If you came across a cool website, you could simply click the AIM Share button, and AIM would generate a message with the site's URL. After typing a brief description, you could click 'Share' to send the link to everyone on your Buddy List.

AIM Expressions and AIM Tunes

AIM Expressions was a newer service designed to manage your buddy icons and wallpapers. A buddy icon was the small image displayed alongside all of your outgoing IMs and on your buddy profile. Wallpaper served as the background for your buddy icon.

At the top of the AIM Expressions page, in the 'My Personality' box, were your current settings. You could click the 'Change' buttons to explore a list of numerous buddy icons and wallpapers. Alternatively, you could search for 'buddy icon' on Google to find hundreds of websites offering customizable options.

AIM Tunes, on the other hand, was a later application that allowed two AIM users to listen to each other's music for free. However, the service couldn't stream music protected by DRM (digital rights management), such as most MP3s purchased from sites like iTunes and Napster [source: YouTube].

AIM Applications

A 2004 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project revealed that 11 million Americans used IM for work-related purposes [source: Pew Internet & American Life Project]. While some workers undoubtedly used IM to chat informally, many others relied on the tool for professional collaboration and communication.

In response to the growing demand for workplace communication tools, AIM launched AIM Pro, a free instant messaging service designed to address the needs of modern businesses. Key features of AIM Pro included:

Sadly, all of these services were discontinued when AIM's parent company shut down AIM in December 2017.