AOL’s instant messaging service launched in 1997 was AIM, short for AOL Instant Messenger.
AIM launched in May 1997 and let users exchange real-time text messages while also showing whether contacts were online. Its buddy-list design and recognizable screen names made it one of the defining communication services of the early consumer Internet.
One of AIM’s signature features was the away message. Users could post a status explaining where they were, what they were doing, or simply share a joke or lyric-like thought. The feature turned a basic availability indicator into a personal online profile, especially among teenagers and college students.
AIM used AOL’s OSCAR protocol, while later experiments also involved XMPP support. Those technologies should not be confused with the service’s name: XMPP is a messaging protocol, and IRC is a separate chat system. ICQ was another instant-messaging service, but it was not AOL’s product described here. AIM was discontinued on December 15, 2017, after two decades of operation.