Mine was aspirational: inflightco, named for the film production company my teenage self believed I would one day run. Perhaps the greatest opportunity for self-expression came in the form of screen names. And there were the all-important away messages, featuring Dashboard Confessional or Smashmouth lyrics we felt approached some eternal truth, emphasized in bright blue letters on a bright red background. There were buddy icons – an early opportunity to create avatars for ourselves. Long before Facebook arrived to offer us the opportunity for boundless personal creativity, Aim offered a means of expression hidden from the family’s gaze.
AIM AOL INSTANT MESSENGER HOW TO
Me: because I was trying to figure out how to word what i was saying, i’m guessing Mom: why does it say you’re typing and then stops for a long period of time and nothing shows up? do you know? Mom: are you typing to someone else also? Parents struggled to comprehend just how it all worked, as in this genuine conversation discovered in my archives: There was a particular magic in Aim because our parents would never see these messages nor hear us talking: Aim was an ecosystem dominated entirely by friends and lovers. “You should have done something about it,” she wrote. This was a time when, after summer camp, I told a friend I’d had a crush on her the whole time but had been too scared to say it out loud. The computer made us more willing to take risks, but this was before things turned ugly. The burgeoning romance practically lights up the screen Badboy and Gurlywurly are probably married now.Īs I think back, I see that the protection offered by the screen hinted at what was to come: the horrific remarks we see in today’s online comment sections.
This could go on for hours, each conversant waiting breathlessly for the other’s reply. A conversation launched with a question about tonight’s homework could blossom into an eloquent, existential examination of teenage life, like this one, based on several true stories (names have been edited for privacy):īadboy15: hi what was the homework for frenchīadboy15: thanks also did u c mike rosenberg puke at lunch today? That’s because, behind the wall of the computer screen, we had the time and distance to craft much wittier banter – in today’s language, to be our best selves. But we typed out great conversations after school. I could barely summon the courage to speak two words to PixieD in class – she was so cool that she wore a car seatbelt as a belt. Aim provided a level playing field for socializing: there was no barrier to saying hi to MusclesBro19, even though he was a star athlete, or PixieDancer123, even though I had a huge crush on her (screen names, as you’ll recall, were oddly gender-focused in those days). Here was a way I could communicate with my peers – including those who were objectively cooler than me – without stammering or panicking. But my dad was missing something important.įor me, as a 14-year-old, Aim was a revelation. After all, as my father pointed out, Alexander Graham Bell developed an improvement on this system long before it was invented.
To some misguided souls, like my father, Aim might have appeared a technological step backwards. MHRA 'Messenger', All Acronyms, 24 September 2023, Bluebook All Acronyms, Messenger (Sep. Messenger, All Acronyms, viewed September 24, 2023, MLA All Acronyms. Retrieved September 24, 2023, from Chicago All Acronyms. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Quote Copy APA All Acronyms.
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