AOL Will Shut Down AIM in December, After 20 Years

“We’ve made the decision that we will be discontinuing AIM effective December 15, 2017,” said a rep for the company. AOL said the cancellation of AIM was influenced by the advancement of technology. “AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed,” they wrote. Some of these advancements or changes include text messaging and social media. AIM and AOL functioned as early forms of social media complete with profiles describing oneself and chatrooms that were used to have conversations with large groups of people. AIM evolved once the mobile technology became more advanced. With the introduction of the Motorola Sidekick, AIM took on a new life and allowed people to use the app on the go which was once confined to their home computers. Pulling the plug on the software seems like a likely end scenario since text messaging has become standard practice and more affordable. It’s eliminated the need to have an entire app dedicated solely to messaging. There are other alternatives which have gained popularity including WhatsApp, but it seems like AIM wasn’t able to stay relevant.

Source: tmz.com