Why We Miss AIM Away Messages
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Before status updates, before social media profiles, and before we carried the internet in our pockets, there were away messages.
A few lines of text attached to a screen name.
And somehow, they mattered.
In Episode 4 of Artifacts, Danny Brown explores how AIM away messages became one of the earliest forms of online self-expression. From song lyrics and inside jokes to cryptic messages aimed at one specific person, away messages gave people a small but meaningful way to tell the world who they were.
But this isn't really a story about instant messaging.
It's a story about identity, connection, and a version of the internet that felt smaller, slower, and more personal.
Why do people still remember away messages decades later?
And what do they reveal about the way we communicated before algorithms, influencers, and personal brands became part of everyday life?
Because sometimes the objects fade.
But the feeling doesn’t.
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My equipment:
- RODE NT1-A large diaphragm condenser mic
- Rodecaster Pro II audio production studio
- Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones
- Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile
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Transcript
Danny: There was a time when one of the most important things you could write online
Speaker:Danny: wasn't a post, or a tweet, or a status update. It was an away message.
Speaker:Danny: A tiny box of text attached to your screen name. That's it.
Speaker:Danny: No algorithm, no engagement metrics, no followers, no likes, just a few lines of text.
Speaker:Danny: But somehow, these few lines felt important.
Speaker:Danny: People spent an absurd amount of time crafting them. Song lyrics,
Speaker:Danny: cryptic messages, inside jokes, passive-aggressive relationship updates, sometimes all at once.
Speaker:Danny: And looking back, it's kind of ridiculous, but it's also fascinating because
Speaker:Danny: people weren't really writing away messages to communicate information.
Speaker:Danny: They were using them to communicate identity.
Speaker:Danny: And I think that's why people still remember them. Not because they were useful,
Speaker:Danny: but because they captured a version of the internet that felt personal.
Speaker:Danny: It's hard to explain to somebody who grew up with smartphones that being online used to be an event.
Speaker:Danny: You didn't simply exist on the internet all day, you went online.
Speaker:Danny: And when you did, it felt intentional.
Speaker:Danny: You sat down at the family computer, maybe after school, maybe late at night,
Speaker:Danny: maybe while hoping nobody picked up the phone.
Speaker:Danny: And then there was the ritual, the sounds, the log in, the buddy list appearing,
Speaker:Danny: the names lighting up one by one, and your friends becoming available in real time.
Speaker:Danny: That moment carried a strange kind of excitement because unlike today,
Speaker:Danny: communication wasn't constant.
Speaker:Danny: People disappeared, signed off,
Speaker:Danny: were unavailable - and that scarcity made connection feel more valuable.
Speaker:Danny: You noticed when somebody logged on. You noticed when they disappeared.
Speaker:Danny: You definitely noticed their away message because the away message wasn't just
Speaker:Danny: telling you somebody wasn't there.
Speaker:Danny: It was telling you who they were, or at least who they wanted to be.
Speaker:Danny: Long before social media profiles became carefully managed personal brands,
Speaker:Danny: people were experimenting with identity in much smaller ways,
Speaker:Danny: and away messages became one of those spaces.
Speaker:Danny: You could tell a surprising amount about somebody from what they wrote.
Speaker:Danny: Maybe it was a lyric from a band you'd never heard of. Maybe it was a quote
Speaker:Danny: from a movie. Maybe it was something intentionally mysterious.
Speaker:Danny: And because of that, the internet was filled with people trying to say,
Speaker:Danny: this is who I am, without directly saying it.
Speaker:Danny: And away messages were perfect for that, because they sat in this little space
Speaker:Danny: between communication and performance.
Speaker:Danny: You weren't broadcasting to the world, you were broadcasting to your people,
Speaker:Danny: your friends, your classmates, your tiny corner of the internet.
Speaker:Danny: And because the audience was smaller, the communication felt different,
Speaker:Danny: less optimised, less strategic and more human.
Speaker:Danny: Looking back now, some of them were incredibly dramatic, especially if you were a teenager.
Speaker:Danny: Okay, let's be honest, most of them were incredibly dramatic.
Speaker:Danny: Song lyrics about heartbreak.
Speaker:Danny: Messages clearly aimed at one specific person.
Speaker:Danny: Vague statements designed to spark curiosity.
Speaker:Danny: They were the digital equivalent of staring out a rainy window while listening to sad music.
Speaker:Danny: And yet, people remember them fondly. Because they weren't polished. They were genuine.
Speaker:Danny: Or at least genuinely trying to be.
Speaker:Danny: I think one reason people miss away messages is because they belong to an internet
Speaker:Danny: before personal branding became normal.
Speaker:Danny: Today, almost every online platform encourages us to present ourselves publicly,
Speaker:Danny: to build an audience, to gain followers, to optimise visibility.
Speaker:Danny: But away messages weren't designed for strangers. They were designed for people
Speaker:Danny: who already knew you. And that changes everything.
Speaker:Danny: Because when communication isn't being measured, it becomes more honest,
Speaker:Danny: or at least less calculated.
Speaker:Danny: Nobody was checking analytics, nobody was studying engagement rates,
Speaker:Danny: and nobody was testing different versions of their away message to maximise reach.
Speaker:Danny: People were simply expressing themselves, sometimes awkwardly,
Speaker:Danny: sometimes dramatically, sometimes badly, but always authentically.
Speaker:Danny: And maybe that's the thing people miss the most - not the software, or the buddy
Speaker:Danny: lists, or the notifications, but the feeling that the internet was still small
Speaker:Danny: enough to feel personal.
Speaker:Danny: Because while modern platforms connect us to millions of people,
Speaker:Danny: these older spaces connected us to a few.
Speaker:Danny: And that made for very different experiences.
Speaker:Danny: Away messages were never important technology. They weren't revolutionary.
Speaker:Danny: They didn't change the world. They were just little pieces of text attached to usernames.
Speaker:Danny: But sometimes the smallest artifacts reveal the most about who we were,
Speaker:Danny: what we cared about, how we wanted to be seen, and what being online felt like
Speaker:Danny: before the internet became something we carried everywhere.
Speaker:Danny: I'm Danny Brown and this is Artifacts.
