Goodbye: AOL Instant Messenger Signs Off For Good On Friday

AOL Instant Messenger, the once-ubiquitous internet chat service of the 1990s, will sign off for good on Friday, Dec. 15.

The company announced its plans to shut down the service in a press release in October, giving users their opportunity to post final away messages and send those last messages.

"All good things come to an end. On Dec. 15, we'll bid farewell to AIM. Thank you to all our users! #AIMemories," the company tweeted with a link to a press release announcing the the end of the service.

"If you were a 90’s kid, chances are there was a point in time when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was a huge part of your life. You likely remember the CD, your first screenname, your carefully curated away messages, and how you organized your buddy lists," wrote Michael Albers, vice president of communications product at Oath, the parent company of AOL.

AIM became a mainstay of 1990s internet culture with its signature quirks and sounds. Users could stylize their profile with cartoon icons and were greeted by a “welcome” from an electronic-sounding voice each time they signed on.

The same voice would bid farewell to users when they signed off with a “goodbye.”

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