The Midnight Society of AIM

Christopher Rommel
Jul 7
2 min read

It’s 11:30 PM, 2004. You and your best friend are on a sleepover, huddled under blankets with a glowing CRT monitor and the rhythmic hum of dial-up. AIM is open. You’re typing rapid-fire secrets, flirty inside jokes, and emotional truths that feel easier to send than say.

Millennial friendships were built in those digital corners—on AIM, in chat rooms, and through buddy lists. According to Pew Research, early internet use correlated with increased emotional communication among teens. These spaces offered a safe playground for emotional risk-taking, which many of us practiced daily, sometimes until the sun came up.

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LimeWire: Our Secret Language of Rebellion

Remember the high of downloading an Usher song on LimeWire at 2 AM? And then burning a CD to give your crush at school?

LimeWire wasn’t just piracy—it was digital intimacy disguised as rebellion. You were building mixtapes, discovering identity, and sharing tiny emotional packages with your friends. These acts mirrored the closeness once reserved for family dinner conversations in the boomer era.

According to Psychology Today, shared digital rituals like playlist-making strengthen group cohesion and deepen interpersonal trust. Millennials turned that trust into lifelong group chats.

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MySpace: Love, Chaos, and Top Dramas

Remember your Top 8? The sacred list that could end a friendship?

MySpace was emotional exhibitionism turned UI. You learned HTML just to make your profile you. That song autoplaying? A coded message. That Top 1 shift? A declaration of war. MySpace made intimacy public, visible, and gamified.

According to Internet Archive records and Pew data, over 80% of teens in the mid-2000s used MySpace to share personal updates, emotional thoughts, and music-driven identity markers.

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Boomer Friendships: Structured and Stoic

Now compare that to your dad and his golf buddies.

Boomer friendships were often scheduled, compartmentalized, and emotionally restrained. They were loyal and dependable, but rarely expressive. “I’m proud of you” came once a decade. “Need to vent” wasn’t a phrase.

Boomers built friendships on presence; Millennials built them on emotional presence.

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How We Carry That Intimacy Today

Today, Ricky and I still reference those AIM-era habits. If he posts a sad lyric in the group chat, I know to check in. If I text “ily🥺🚩” he knows I’m spiraling.

Millennial closeness didn’t fade—it evolved. We turned AIM into group texts, MySpace into curated Instagram stories, LimeWire into Spotify shares. Our friendships are still active, emotionally charged, and always on. We don’t ghost. We meme through the pain.

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