instant messaging and presence computer program created by AOL, which used the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. AIM was popular from the late 1990s to the late 2000s, in North America, and was the leading instant messaging application in that region. AIM's popularity declined steeply in the early 2010s, as Internet social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, gained popularity, and its fall has often been compared with other once-popular Internet services, such as Myspace
