AOL Instant Messenger Officially Rides off Into the Sunset
Digital Communicator
by Brent Dirks
December 15, 2017
After 20 years, AOL Instant Messenger has officially been shut down.
AOL was a hugely popular way to communicate before texting and smartphones became ubiquitous.
The once hugely-popular chat platform began in 1997 for Windows and became one of the first ways to communicate on the Internet, long before iMessage, WhatsApp, and whole host of other ubiquitous chat programs available now.
After making a splash on Windows, the program eventually made its way to the Mac and was available on iOS devices as well.
AOL’s parent company announced the shutdown back in March to give users ample time to migrate to another option.