It’s only a month before ICQ, a very popular instant messaging app in the 90s and early aughts, joins the other old apps and programs in the big farm in the sky. According to him, it will stop working on June 26 website, which encourages users to switch to VK Messenger for casual chats and VK WorkSpace for professional chats. ICQ appeared at a time when most people used IRC to chat. However, IRC was mainly designed for group chats – ICQ made it easier to communicate one-on-one.
A longer number was assigned over time as it was issued to users who registered for the account consecutively. The shortest numbers had five digits, meaning users who received them were there from the start. ICQ peaked in the early 2000s when it reached 100 million registered accounts. Although it didn’t take long for AIM to overtake Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger in popularity, ICQ’s iconic “uh-oh!” the notification sound remains memorable for many internet users at that time.
ICQ, derived from the phrase “I’m looking for you”, was developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis. It was later acquired by AOL, and later by Russia’s Mail.Ru Group, also known as VK, its social networking and messaging services.
