April 29, 2009, 10:46 AM — My Blackberry came pre-loaded with AOL Instant Messenger. I've had an account name since the late 90s. So why don't I use AIM on BlackBerry?
One word: Twitter
Instant messaging has been around for quite some time. MIT had a system called Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in the 1960's. Commodore 64's "Quantum Link" service allowed OLM ("on-line messages") between it's users. In 1997, America On-Line released AIM. From there, IM had become known and used by hundreds of millions of users around the globe. Even the instant messaging shorthand became part of popular culture -- a shorthand that hasn't died out with the emergence of new types of social media.
The beauty of instant messaging was that it was quicker and more direct than email, and not nearly as immediate or intrusive as a phone call. You were able to converse with someone and not have to stop working (or at least appear that way). And then came "texting". Very similar to IM, you could send a typewritten message to someone without having to use AOL's product and the advertisements that went along with it. Phone companies LOVED this idea, as they had a new way to charge fees. Still, though, you could only communicate with one individual at a time. This was a-ok, as the concept of social networking wasn't yet on the horizon.
MySpace unofficially started the social networking phenomenon by offering a place where you could set up a personal account with your photos, your wit and music preferences...and then invite your friends while making new friends with their friends and friends of friends' friends. But the concept was there and it was attractive: "hey world out there...this is me in all my glory". Facebook really took this concept and ran with it. The interface, the myriad methods of finding friends is unparalleled. Tons of quizzes to share results, lots of TV shows you can become fans of. But the real attraction is the user status or, "what are you up to?". Somewhere, someone thought: "wouldn't it be nice to have the status news without all the other crap?" (obviously paraphrased). Enter Twitter.
Twitter is an intriguing step in the infancy of social networking. Very much like cell phone texting to an entire group of followers at the same time. There's no pressure to converse. Followers can read, respond, ignore...whatever. Meanwhile, Twitter fulfills the "me-centric" requirements of this new social revolution. You can choose to follow anyone, including people you might not be able to befriend on Facebook, such as various celebrities, politicians and the like. Now, you might not always get a response if you Tweet these people. But there's a chance you will. Howard Stern is tweeting to fans on Fridays. Ashton Kuchter seems to be making a career of responding to Tweets.
So does this mean the passing of our old AIM screennames? Possibly. I'd be curious to hear what you think. I personally still use AIM to communicate with coworkers and with my wife. The novelty has long since worn off... but the usefulness remains.
