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AJCxZ0's avatar
AJCxZ0
Silver Expert
2 months ago
Solved

Identity and instant messaging: ICQ, Skype, AOL/AIM, Yahoo, MSN

This list of defunct (but historically interesting) services is the entire list of options provided in an Identity item.

While such instant messenger platforms no longer exist in their original form, some modern or current equivalents where an individual identity can be provided include (but are not limited to)

Please consider this a feature request to replace these fields with options suitable for this century.

ICQ: AJCxZ0/283813972
AIM: AJCxZ0
Yahoo: AJ_Z0
MSN/Skype: Never

  • Hi AJCxZ0,

    You made me feel ancient at first, but your listing IRC as something we should include won me back over πŸ˜„

    You do make a good point, though. I'll flag this to the team!

    ref: PB-51229925

2 Replies

  • 1P_SimonH's avatar
    1P_SimonH
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager

    Hi AJCxZ0,

    You made me feel ancient at first, but your listing IRC as something we should include won me back over πŸ˜„

    You do make a good point, though. I'll flag this to the team!

    ref: PB-51229925

    • AJCxZ0's avatar
      AJCxZ0
      Silver Expert

      Thank you, 1P_SimonH​.

      For folks who ended up here but don't know, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), along with Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), is based on Internet standards, much like email, Usenet, the web, and the Fediverse. It's not a "platform" or subject to the whims of any owner like those dead instant messengers, the not-yet-dead chat platforms I mentioned, or commercial social media. Consequently, anyone can and did create services based on these standards, frequently making them freely available for anyone to use. The good ones, including IRC, continue to evolve and be used decades later.

      IRC: AJ_Z0 on Libera.chat, OFTC, EFnet, and elsewhere