AOL Instant Messenger

Also known as AIM

Cause of death

Killed by indifference

Made by

AOL

AOL shut AIM down on 15 December 2017 after its user base collapsed to a fraction of its peak.

AIM launched as a standalone app in 1997 and taught a generation to weaponize the away message. By 2011 one survey put its share of installed messaging clients at 0.73 percent, having been beaten first by text messaging and then by every phone app that came after. AOL closed it on 15 December 2017, letting users download their old images on the way out. Twenty years of buddy lists, and nothing built to replace them.