"AIM used new digital technology and encouraged cultural change, but the way we communicate with each other has changed," writes Michael Albers, Communications Products VP at Oath, division of US telecom operator Verizon, which has acquired AOL.
AOL has closed access to AIM from third-party chat apps in March. This shows their plan to close this service. Not many people are still using AIM, therefore, most likely, this change will not affect many people.
AIM is one of the first and most successful messaging apps. It was widely used in the late 1990s and during the 2000s.
However, with the emergence of smartphones, the way people communicate changed. SMS started to be a substitute for the messaging app on the desktop.
After that, began to emerge various social media like Facebook and Snapchat, which makes desktop messaging applications rarely used. In addition, chatting through Facebook is also so much easier because you are already connected to your friends and family.
