AIM is now gone for good

Instant messaging has recently entered a new era, and the once ubiquitous such services are now only shadows of their former selves (Yahoo Messenger) or simply dead and gone (AIM). AOL's Instant Messenger made its debut back in May 1997 and was the leader of this sector in Noth America by mid-2000s. Sadly, the social services like Facebook and Twitter entered the scene, pushing away the oldies like Myspace and AIM.

Right now, the official announcement on the AOL Help portal simply reads the following: "As of December 15, 2017, AOL Instant Messenger products and services will be shut down and will no longer work.If you are an AOL member, AOL products and services​ ​like AO​​L Mail, AOL Desktop Gold an​d Member​ Subscriptions will not be affected.​ To view your benefits, please visit mybenefits.aol.com.​"

Sadly, the primary question for AIM fans has a negative answer: there is no replacement product in the pipeline since Oath is just "excited to continue bringing you new, iconic products and experiences." In case you missed the news about Oath so far, you should just know that AOL and Yahoo were combined as Oath after being both purchased by Verizon (only partially in Yahoo's case).

Now, the hashtag #AIMemories has a whole new meaning. AIM is finally dead and gone, but the memory remains.