If you’re still utilizing AIM, that gives you one day to find an option and rebuild your connection list. AIM will not automatically shift all of your contacts to another service. All personal data affiliated with AIM will be deleted after December 15, 2017. The business says users can save their chat logs, but it must be done by Friday.
Users will still be authorized to use their @aim.com email address to send and receive email, according to Oath formerly AOL.
The death of AOL Instant Messenger signals the end of an era. For many, AIM was a key go-to relations channel. It was an easy-to-use tool that eluded the dreaded game of phone tag. But it was eventually undermined by newer apps like Facebook messenger, Slack, Google Hangout, and Google Chat.
Its path to destruction accelerated in 2014 when Apple’s Messages app for OS X previously known as iChat ended support for AIM. The aging messaging protocol, already in decline, slid further.
In October, Oath sent announcements to past and current users of the service and posted a letter on the AIM help page explaining why it’s shutting down the service.
“As we move ahead, all of us at AOL now Oath are thrilled to continue bringing you new, iconic products and experiences,” according to the message.
There are still lots of real-time messaging applications that have grown in reputation and now overshadow AIM. Slack and Yammer have grown essential tools for businesses, as have Google Chat and Hangouts, Microsoft’s Skype, Twitter’s direct communication feature, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and even LinkedIn.
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