AIM (AOL Instant Messenge)
Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.
Launched by AOL in 1997, AIM — AOL Instant Messenger — became one of the defining social spaces of the early internet. Millions of people built buddy lists, obsessed over screen names, carefully crafted away messages, and learned that the sound of a friend signing on could instantly derail whatever homework they were pretending to do.
Long before texting, Instagram, or group chats, AIM was where an entire generation learned how to be online.
But social networks, smartphones, SMS, and newer messaging apps eventually made the little yellow Running Man look increasingly tired. After 20 years, AOL officially shut AIM down in 2017.
Twenty years of friendships, arguments, cryptic song lyrics, and away messages designed for exactly one person to notice.
Explore our AIM collection celebrating the messenger that taught a generation the most important rule of the early internet: never use your real name when a terrible screen name will do.
