AOL Instant Messenger will finally, totally die in December

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), the beloved messaging service that was the first online experience for an entire generation, will finally reach the end of its life later this year.

The remnants of the once popular chat service will be taken off life support (i.e. AOL parent company Oath will discontinue support) on Dec. 15. So if you’re still using AIM to chat with your friends and make plans to meet up at the local mall, you’d better start looking for an alternative chat service.

All good things come to an end. On Dec 15, we’ll bid farewell to AIM. Thank you to all our users!

— AIM (@aim) October 6, 2017

AOL pushed out an email about the instant messenger’s demise this morning, so if you still have access to an account, you should check your inbox for this sad message:

The end of an era. pic.twitter.com/BBID3LyYsl

— Stephen Hackett (@ismh) October 6, 2017

The news is sure to be heart-wrenching for millennials who spent hours on end messaging with friends, tying up their parents’ phone lines on dial-up connections. But AIM has fallen out of favor in recent years, as we’ve migrated to newer, flashier services on our smartphones like SnapChat, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.

Come December 15, all that will be left are memories of unfortunate screen names (remember Swimfan?) and odes to a simpler time online. Take a moment today to pay your respects, and set an appropriately sappy Dashboard Confessional away message in tribute.