Twitter Is Sharing Its Most Embarrassing Screen Names in Remembrance of AIM
It was a sad day for kids of the late ‘90s yesterday, when AOL pulled the plug on the now-obsolete messenger service AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) after 20 years. The service, which launched back in 1997, met its final demise yesterday, but not without honor. After hosting angsty lyrics in its statuses and screen names full of double entendres for so many kids growing up in a pre-Facebook era, Twitter all but lit up with tribute, with users flocking to share their own long-forgotten “sn.s.”
Even athletes got in on the game, with the NHL posting a video with their own shared online monikers.
Everyone had an embarrassing AIM screen name and NHL players are no exception. 😆 pic.twitter.com/tBHI4hcVvN
— NHL (@NHL) December 15, 2017
Check out some of our favorites below, and chime in with your own if you’re so inclined (we’re signing off forever as shortcake232).
In honor of #AIM going away, I would j like it to be known that my first SN was loverspenguin
— c (@cmtgrdn) December 16, 2017
1. Cute and Cuddly: ‘Cause who can resist a penguin of any sort?
RIP to my @aim sn gellyface008 🙏
— Gel (@xADCC) December 16, 2017
2. We’re Gelly: While gellyface008 was more likely a reference to the user’s name, it could have also doubled as a tribute to the popular gel pens of the era, no?
rip aim
my sn was aegirl1002
ae was for american eagle, but also (secretly) the initials of a guy i crushed on in middle/high school— britty baby, it’s cold outside ❄️ (@loveisvein) December 16, 2017
3. Sneaky, Sneaky: AEgirl1002 sneakily let the world know who her heart belonged to without saying a word.
confession: my old aim sn was coheedKid14
I was actually 13 but wanted to impress the older women#RIPAIM
— brown guy fieri (@jeremygratil) December 15, 2017
4. Emo AF: This Coheed and Cambria nod is a totally fitting nod to the emo undercurrent that flowed through statuses galore in AIM’s heyday.
My AIM Screen Name was DFizzle12. That was my peak. #rip
— Classy Drew Meyer (@DrewMeyer25) December 16, 2017
5. Peak Coolness: This user was perhaps at his finest when he was known as “DFizzle12.”
my AIM screen name was aleXXX because 13 year old me thought he understood things
— maurice cheeks (@ayyy_see) December 16, 2017
6. XXX-Rated: “13-year-old me thought he understood things,” aleXXX joked of his brow-raising sn.
Goodbye AIM. I'll never forget when i innocently made the screen name LusciousCherry94 in 4th grade and my mom made me delete it
— Sarah (@sarahbizarre) December 15, 2017
7. Too Hot to Handle: LusciousCherry94’s mom, on the other hand, was NOT here for her inadvertently racy sn.
What was your AIM screen name? Mine was Loni302 (my locker number) #RIPAIM
— Loni Polk (@LoniPolk247) December 15, 2017
8. Helpful Reminder: Loni302 never forgot her locker number, thanks to her clever AOL nod.
RIP to my AIM screen name: Smallfeet92. Lol I wonder how many people know me as that.
— Sarah Kathryn (@sarahoftherose) December 16, 2017
9. Self-Reflective: “I wonder how many people know me as that?” mused smallfeet92.
As we put AIM out to pasture, let us remember our painfully awkward screen names. RIP madsk8tress87
— Maddie Clybourn (@maddieclybourn) December 16, 2017
10. A Sign of the Times: We don’t know how much better we could sum up the beauty of the era than “Madsk8tress87” managed to with her name.
RIP, AIM!
What was your embarrassing AIM screen name? Share with us over @BritandCo.
(Photo via Mario Tama/Getty + @aim)
