In our never ending quest to provide all of our readers with relatable, ‘slice of life’ style content, we here at the SoBros Network feel the time to weigh in on social commentary has officially come. It’s once again time for me, Big Natural, to open up the leather-bound parchment pages of the annals of history. Put on your plush robe, light your pipe, start a fire, and get ready for deep contemplation. This is the as-often-as-I-remember-to-write-it column: Forgotten Treasures of Americana.
In the early days of dial-up noises and hogging up the phone to use the Internet, AOL’s Instant Messenger was a beacon of hope and promise. We could communicate with multiple people at a time, which made it a highly efficient tool. But, you could also chat and dick around with your buddies without worrying about having a phone attached to your ear. You could also chat with several girls, and go to school the next day and compare which one of you and your boys talked to the most girls the night before. What I am trying to say is that for a teenage boy, it was a pure revelation. Well, folks – news broke a couple of weeks ago that AIM is officially dying. Let us pay homage.
“It’s a sad moment: AIM, AOL’s long-running instant messenger service that was core to many people’s first social experiences on the internet, will shut down once and for all on December 15th. AOL announced the shutdown today, acknowledging that people now communicate in new ways online, so AIM is no longer needed.”
Please, at this moment in the article, let’s observe a moment of silence for a fallen brethren.
This isn’t necessarily horrible news. Truth be told, I forgot that AIM even existed. But, upon reading this news, I couldn’t help but shed a single tear at the death of one of the staples of my adolescence.
I have several fond memories attached to hearing that door open and shut and the promise of the sparkling sound that signified the receipt of a new message. Used to just fire that bad boy up, sit and play my Playstation, and wait for scoops. I can fondly remember late nights chatting with people when I definitely should’ve been in bed. But, it allowed us to not miss a single minute of gossip.
Also, how awesome were away messages? It was one of my favorite components of AIM. Sometimes, I’d just put up an away message just to see how many people would message me in my absence. I think my record was three. Kind of depressing, but whatever. I also had a girl break up with me through an away message once. That was pretty awesome – “Nature Boy” and I still laugh about that to this day. Like I said, good memories only when it comes to AIM.
In hindsight, away messages seem pretty horrible. “I’m just going to put up an away message and leave my computer unattended while the Internet prevents people from calling the house in event of emergency” just seems like a poor attitude to have.
Finally, to conclude this piece – for your auditory pleasure:
Prior Forgotten Treasures of Americana Features
3OH!3
Hasbro WWF Action Figures
Homework
Mama’s Family
Playing Outside
The Super Soaker 50
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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