“It turned out my old handle was still functional, and I was happy to use this slightly more professional option.” “When I started working at Pitchfork in 2014, the internal office communications system was, somehow, AIM,” Gordon says. Unexpectedly, AIM popped up again in Gordon’s life more than a decade later, and he appreciated the simplicity of his original screen name. “Nobody is allowed to see what I was posting about Pokemon when I was 11.” “I will not share that one here, I'm sorry to say, because some of those message board posts are still active,” Gordon adds. He quickly acquired a second screen name, which synced with the handle he used on video game forums.

“My AIM screen name was JeremyG495, which I set up with the help of my father in either 1998 or 1999,” says Gordon in an email.

Long before writer Jeremy Gordon covered music and pop culture for the New York Times and The Outline, he was an elementary schooler who logged onto AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) for the very first time.

Download aim messaging