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LiveJournal wasn't actually launched until the spring of 1999, by which time ICQ was fading fast as the instant messenger of choice. Adoption of AIM and MSN Mes

LiveJournal wasn't actually launched until the spring of 1999, by which time ICQ was fading fast as the instant messenger of choice. Adoption of AIM and MSN Messenger was widespread, and many people used multi-protocol clients. (It was actually a golden age of instant messaging free of platforms and chat rooms.) But yes, absolutely, all the chairs were inflatable. None of them survive. Actually that's how the standing desk was discovered.

adrianN 6y ago
I've completely given up on instant messaging for private use after the death of multiprotocol clients. I'm now back to using email.
- 3np 6y ago
  There is hope! Matrix and its bridge ecosystem are growing and improving. Nova chat (no affiliation) are building their charged service on top of it. IIRC they also contribute to/sponsor the development of them. The vast majority of the bridge work and maintenance is done single-handedly by tulir. It'd be awesome to see more capable individuals contributing :)
  - Zash 6y ago
    Bridges face the same hostile adversaries as multi-protocol clients. It's the same thing with a different architecture.
    - samatman 6y ago
      We'll see. My bet is that having the French and German governments as paying clients will be a game-changer for Matrix. We've moved over to it internally, and I'm federating onto a couple of social channels; using Slack feels like chewing glass now, and if I could interact with my remaining Slack obligations from Element, I would. Slack can be as hostile as they want, I welcome it in fact, because I want them to be unprofitable, hemorrhaging users, and eventually shut down. Best of all, there's only so much they can do in that department, while keeping all the bot integrations which are their only remaining (and fast eroding) edge. Matrix deserves to win— and they're poised to.
- Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
  Multiprotocol clients are a dead end. For a developers, it's a never-ending catch-up game against hostile adversary (original service is never happy with being used via third-party clients)
  - adrianN 6y ago
    As a developer I understand the problem, but as a user I just want to talk to all my friends without installing half a dozen different applications.
    - Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
      Then use XMPP and ask all your friends to use XMPP. The only way to really fulfil your wish is switching to federated messengers.
      - zamfi 6y ago
        That’s what they did! > I'm now back to using email. /s
      - thesuitonym 6y ago
        I think most people would have better luck getting their friends on board with Matrix. Personally, I like XMPP more, but so far I've not found a client that gets as close to the discord experience as nearly all Matrix clients get.
  - MisterTea 6y ago
    This is why I like the idea of plan 9 and file servers which provide a standard system wide interface to a thing such as a chat protocol. There is/was (cat and mouse) a discord file server which allows you to use any text handling interface such as a shell window or text editor as a chat client. There is also an IRC file server which does the same and acts as a bouncer giving you a persistent connection. So you can have a single acme window open writing code, chatting on irc and discord while checking email and composing an email. It's all text so treat is as such. Wild stuff.
- MisterTea 6y ago
  I went back to IRC. Though there are channels which bridge IRC with matrix and/or discord (gross). That alows cantankerous users such as myself to interact with careless lusers ;-)
  - crueltear 6y ago
    And eventually some of those lusers hop over, either out of necessity or because huge, featureful clients like Discord become distasteful to them. Of course, the real killer for me is voice/video and not text chat, and that I need something a bit more user friendly than Mumble for most of the people I talk to.
  - anthk 6y ago
    Bitlbee + IRSSI. Telegram and Freenode both from IRC? With dcc to fetch files? It's amazing.
vbezhenar 6y ago
Depends on country. I started to use Internet around 2002 and ICQ was the messenger of choice. Nobody used AIM or MSN Messenger around me.

adrianN 6y ago

I've completely given up on instant messaging for private use after the death of multiprotocol clients. I'm now back to using email.

3np 6y ago
There is hope! Matrix and its bridge ecosystem are growing and improving. Nova chat (no affiliation) are building their charged service on top of it. IIRC they also contribute to/sponsor the development of them. The vast majority of the bridge work and maintenance is done single-handedly by tulir. It'd be awesome to see more capable individuals contributing :)
- Zash 6y ago
  Bridges face the same hostile adversaries as multi-protocol clients. It's the same thing with a different architecture.
  - samatman 6y ago
    We'll see. My bet is that having the French and German governments as paying clients will be a game-changer for Matrix. We've moved over to it internally, and I'm federating onto a couple of social channels; using Slack feels like chewing glass now, and if I could interact with my remaining Slack obligations from Element, I would. Slack can be as hostile as they want, I welcome it in fact, because I want them to be unprofitable, hemorrhaging users, and eventually shut down. Best of all, there's only so much they can do in that department, while keeping all the bot integrations which are their only remaining (and fast eroding) edge. Matrix deserves to win— and they're poised to.
Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
Multiprotocol clients are a dead end. For a developers, it's a never-ending catch-up game against hostile adversary (original service is never happy with being used via third-party clients)
- adrianN 6y ago
  As a developer I understand the problem, but as a user I just want to talk to all my friends without installing half a dozen different applications.
  - Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
    Then use XMPP and ask all your friends to use XMPP. The only way to really fulfil your wish is switching to federated messengers.
    - zamfi 6y ago
      That’s what they did! > I'm now back to using email. /s
    - thesuitonym 6y ago
      I think most people would have better luck getting their friends on board with Matrix. Personally, I like XMPP more, but so far I've not found a client that gets as close to the discord experience as nearly all Matrix clients get.
- MisterTea 6y ago
  This is why I like the idea of plan 9 and file servers which provide a standard system wide interface to a thing such as a chat protocol. There is/was (cat and mouse) a discord file server which allows you to use any text handling interface such as a shell window or text editor as a chat client. There is also an IRC file server which does the same and acts as a bouncer giving you a persistent connection. So you can have a single acme window open writing code, chatting on irc and discord while checking email and composing an email. It's all text so treat is as such. Wild stuff.
MisterTea 6y ago
I went back to IRC. Though there are channels which bridge IRC with matrix and/or discord (gross). That alows cantankerous users such as myself to interact with careless lusers ;-)
- crueltear 6y ago
  And eventually some of those lusers hop over, either out of necessity or because huge, featureful clients like Discord become distasteful to them. Of course, the real killer for me is voice/video and not text chat, and that I need something a bit more user friendly than Mumble for most of the people I talk to.
- anthk 6y ago
  Bitlbee + IRSSI. Telegram and Freenode both from IRC? With dcc to fetch files? It's amazing.

vbezhenar 6y ago

Depends on country. I started to use Internet around 2002 and ICQ was the messenger of choice. Nobody used AIM or MSN Messenger around me.