It was the late 90s, social media platforms like Facebook didn't yet exist, texting was in its infancy, email was very popular, instant messaging was up for...

The bottom of the article links to the history (individual features) of other IM programs from that era as well like ICQ and Yahoo Messenger.

    • kitnaht@lemmy.worldEnglish
      20·
      11 days ago

      MSN = Microsoft Network. They didn’t “happen”…they were always part of the process. MSN messenger was never anything other than a Microsoft product.

      • parpol@programming.devEnglish
        71·
        11 days ago

        The reason MSN stopped being used was because Microsoft started requiring Microsoft accounts for it to work, and started pushing people towards Skype. Which is why “Microsoft happened”. I never really meant to imply that Microsoft bought it or anything, just that they are the reason it eventually died.

        • yamanii@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          10 days ago

          I thought it always required a microsoft e-mail? It’s why most millenials had a hotmail before gmail was a thing.