AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) is seen as a long-running instant messenger service that was once the first online experience for many people on the internet.
Popular in the late 1990s to mid 2000s, it was once of the leading instant messaging application. However, as the rise of social media and instant messaging came into popularity, AIM's users declined rapidly. AIM's owner, Oath Inc., said that it is discontinuing AIM as a service on 15 December 2017.
AOL acknowledges that people in the modern internet communicate in many new ways, so here AIM is no longer needed.
With mobile devices that can constantly connect to the internet, everything has changed for AIM. Text messaging has taken over from desktop instant messaging to apps on mobile. And with Snapchat and Instagram reigning the demography, AIM can never compete. Let alone with Facebook has multiple billion-user messaging services with both Messenger and WhatsApp.
"AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed," wrote Michael Albers, communications products VP at Oath.
"Thank you to all of our AIM users. And definitely stay tuned as we’re fired up to provide more products and experiences that people around the world love."
AIM in shutting down began from the service in cutting off access from third-party chat clients back in March 2017. This was the first hint of its eventual shut down.
And after first launching back in 1997, AIM is shutting down after 20-years running. It is joining other classic chat apps that have shut down in recent years. MSN for example, shut down its service in 2014. Even Yahoo! Messenger (while have been re-launched as a new messaging service) couldn't compete.
