• toynbee@piefed.social
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          1 day ago

          If you’re referring to AIM (and other messengers) as “social media,” I would definitely describe them as having a net positive impact on at least my personal life.

          • Art3mis@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Is that like an early chat room? Yeah that probably counts. And yeah, i stand by my point. I had some really shady encounters in chatrooms as a kid

            • smh@slrpnk.net
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              8 hours ago

              It’s more like Google chat or your contacts list of folks you SMS with. People you probably know from high school and nowadays you’d text, but AOL Instant Messager was free, used a device with a full keyboard, and didn’t require a cell phone which you didn’t have because it was 2001.

              • Art3mis@lemmy.world
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                4 hours ago

                I mean the first person that groomed me did it through texting, so my point still stands, but thats neat. It was a standalone device? Like those kids ir messengers from like 2008?

                • smh@slrpnk.net
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                  4 hours ago

                  Nah, it was an application on family computer. You know, the computer in the corner of the dining room where your parents and baby brother could read over your shoulder. (I had my own computer in my room, but it didn’t even have a network card or modem.)

                  • Art3mis@lemmy.world
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                    3 hours ago

                    My grandma had a family computer that was loud af. My moms family computer was a lot quieter but i wasnt allowed online until i was like 11 or 12. I had a myspace for like a year before facebook happened.