--- title: Aim Dying Inspired the Funniest Reactions and Memes description: AOL's iconic instant messaging service is going the way of the dodo on Dec. 15 — and some are remembering its quirks fondly. canonical: https://time.com/4972583/aim-ending-reactions/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-06T16:57:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:50.705Z og:title: AIM Is Signing Off Forever. Internet Instantly Has Feelings. og:description: Screen names — and your childhood — are over. og:url: https://time.com/4972583/aim-ending-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c9d6163d7405628/6988e0d7096a944e8069fe1c/aol-instant-messenger-icon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3920 og:image:height: 2205 og:image:alt: AOL Buys Huffington Post For $315 Million To Rekindle Ad-Revenue Growth og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: AIM Is Signing Off Forever. Internet Instantly Has Feelings. twitter:description: Screen names — and your childhood — are over. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c9d6163d7405628/6988e0d7096a944e8069fe1c/aol-instant-messenger-icon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # AIM Is Officially Signing Off Forever. The Internet Instantly Had So Many Hilarious Feelings.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 6, 2017 4:57 PM UTC  An AOL Inc. Instant Messenger inflatable logo sits on display in the company's headquarters in New York, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011\. AOL agreed to buy the Huffington Post for $315 million as the internet company spun off from Time Warner Inc. increases its investments in online content to help revive growth in advertising revenue. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images An AOL Inc. Instant Messenger inflatable logo sits on display in the company's headquarters in New York, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011\. AOL agreed to buy the Huffington Post for $315 million as the internet company spun off from Time Warner Inc. increases its investments in online content to help revive growth in advertising revenue. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 6, 2017 4:57 PM UTC Your childhood is over. AIM — AOL’s instant messaging service, which predated today’s [Facebook Messenger](http://time.com/4503176/google-allo-vs-imessage-vs-facebook-messenger/), Snapchat, iMessage, [Slack](http://time.com/money/4901549/you-should-be-paranoid-about-your-company-monitoring-slack/) and so many other forms of chat — is officially shutting down and signing off forever on December 15, it [announced Friday,](https://twitter.com/aim/status/916290747850264577) after 20 years in operation. A generation of internet users were introduced to the concept of socializing through a (desktop) screen thanks to AIM, with its iconic “Buddy List,” emo, song-lyric-laden away messages, and a minimalist profile page that let kids (and adults) craft a virtual persona full of inside jokes and [Comic Sans](http://time.com/3520405/comic-sans-typewriter/) font use. AIM was also a great place to develop a chill relationship with your middle school crush, who you could casually hit with a “Sup?” in the after-school hours. Of course, the internet is not letting AIM die in silence. No, people are really letting their feelings out about this ending era. From the memorable sounds the app played to the screen names that defined identities to the now-ubiquitous online shorthand that it spawned (g2g! idk! brb! nm, jc! LOL), here’s how AIM is getting memorialized. > [](https://twitter.com/juliareinstein/status/916321798580572160) > [](https://twitter.com/sakelfc/status/916318925666709504) > [](https://twitter.com/faintestofheart/status/916325951440637952) > [](https://twitter.com/CMooreHere/status/916326283038134272) > [](https://twitter.com/BarstoolNate/status/916319286473392129) > [](https://twitter.com/TheMixedOne24/status/916324059612188672) > [](https://twitter.com/LuvmeKrazy/status/916322885362438144) > [](https://twitter.com/cultofbednar/status/916324103895654400) > [](https://twitter.com/JessDayGeorge/status/916326800141180931) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4972583/aim-ending-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4972583/aim-ending-reactions/"},"headline":"AIM Is Officially Signing Off Forever. The Internet Instantly Had So Many Hilarious Feelings.","datePublished":"2017-10-06T16:57:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:50.705Z","description":"AOL's iconic instant messaging service is going the way of the dodo on Dec. 15 — and some are remembering its quirks fondly.","url":"https://time.com/4972583/aim-ending-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","viral","Business"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c9d6163d7405628/6988e0d7096a944e8069fe1c/aol-instant-messenger-icon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c9d6163d7405628/6988e0d7096a944e8069fe1c/aol-instant-messenger-icon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AOL Buys Huffington Post For $315 Million To Rekindle Ad-Revenue Growth","caption":"AOL Buys Huffington Post For $315 Million To Rekindle Ad-Revenue Growth","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4972583/aim-ending-reactions/","name":"AIM Is Officially Signing Off Forever. The Internet Instantly Had So Many Hilarious Feelings."}}]}] ```