I feel like this was more due to how we used computers at the time rather than AIM itself. You can still set your status on most messaging platforms, but we're

I feel like this was more due to how we used computers at the time rather than AIM itself. You can still set your status on most messaging platforms, but we're now always online and people assume you'll respond later if you're too busy. Up until the early 2000's, most people were still getting online using a dial-up connection on a PC. That meant you had to make a conscious decision to get online and block off your phone line for other purposes. At least for me, the very fact that I was online meant that I wasn't busy and was open to chatting with my friends.