Travel back in time with me. Get home from school, grab a snack, and head straight to the computer. While you’re munching on your pizza rolls, your dial-up is connecting (unless you were cool and had DSL) until—wait—your mom gets on the phone to gossip with her friends. You: “Mom, can you please get off of the phone? I need to do my history homework.” (lies) Mom: “Sure, honey.”
Finally, you’re connected to the Internet. What to do now? Duh, log into your AIM account and chat it up with your girls that you haven’t seen in a whopping 30 minutes since you got off of the bus.
Those were the days, back in the early 2000s when shows like To Catch A Predator weren’t around to catch wrinkly, old men getting comfy with someone their own shoe size. It was only after our parents spied on us while in a chat room that they placed strict privacy settings on our accounts.
Okay, fast-forward a decade to 2012, and now what are we logged into after a grueling day of school? Twitter (or Facebook for those of you that haven’t caught up). It doesn’t matter how old they are, everyone has a Twitter or a Facebook, and we are all pouring our lives into cyberspace (creepy when you think of it that way, I know).
So maybe that’s the reason the big execs at AOL decided to do away with the AIM feature two weeks ago, giving 40 employees the boot. So long to the days of instant-messaging, which you can now do on Facebook, Google Chat, Skype, or simply by text-messaging. But we all should have seen this coming. When was the last time someone asked you to chat with them on AIM? The early 2000s, right?
But what about the kids? Aren’t we just pushing them toward the big, bad world of Twitter and Facebook? Actually, I’m pretty sure they are already there. However, one door doesn’t close without another opening; therefore, with the demise of AIM, Twitter or Facebook users can carry on. And long-live present-day social media! R.I.P. AIM, we shall miss you!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.