22 Things that 20-somethings learned from Yahoo! Messenger as a kid

I heard that Yahoo! Messenger (YM) will be saying goodbye this August and together with its disappearance are our childhood memories, first exposure to the “online world”, and use of weird usernames to name a few.

Although YM will officially be making its grand exit a couple of weeks from now, it will surely be our first love. You know, the type of love that will teach you things you need to know to fully mature before advancing to new messenger apps in search for the “greatest love”. I loved YM and I’m sure you do too. Thus, here are 22 things I’ve learned in using this for about five years or so:

1. The first abbreviations of the Internet.

ASL? F/M? ROFL. LOL. DND. BRB. AFK. SOS. You name it, I abbreviate it.

2. The use of the original emojis… the emoticons! (They move too)

Emoticons galore!

Emoticons galore!

3. And the characters to use so you can just type it in.

=)) :)) >:D< O:-) :-bd

Pretty much memorized all of my favorites. I just forgot them over time. Woops!

4. Public chat groups with sketchy names are a no-no.

5. More so accepting webcam invites from strangers!

(Photo from Yahoo! Messenger features page)

(Photo from Yahoo! Messenger features page)

6. The weirdest usernames were given birth.

ym sign in

All hail the ancient “jeje” language. Pick your poison:

Szuper_w0man123

destroyer_angel19

miss_maldita_o11

7. Group messages (GMs) are essential.

“Hi! Chat chat sa walang ginagawa. Hehehehe *insert a load of emojis here* -=.GM.=-,” written in font size 16, bold, rainbow-colored Comic Sans.

8. It’s a battle on who’s got the prettiest font and colors.

Neon color game so strong.

9. DND means Do Not Disturb… and thou shall respect thy busy status.

10. It’s so easy to hide and yet manage to observe everyone.

Zzzzz

Zzzzz

*goes Invisible*

Me: I am John Cena.

11. Going invisible and available again and again is the perfect way to annoy everyone on your list.

A pile of notifications at the side accompanied by knocks and door slamming. Perfect.

12. Urgent matters call for the use of BUZZ!!!

<DING>

13. Stickers? Y!M’s “stickers” called “audibles” go with entertaining sounds.

Remember these audibles?

Remember these audibles?

14. Rants are either in GM form or placed as a status message.

15. *Places crush’s username on top of YM list*

*Waits patiently for prey*

16. Need quotes? Check out your friends’ status messages.

17. Do not use that floating hearts background/skin when flirting with someone.

Buzz comes in a smooch form. Too fast! Uh-oh.

18. You can rename anyone in your list.

(Photo from Yahoo! Messenger features page)

(Photo from Yahoo! Messenger features page)

“My love”, “Crush”, “Bebe ko” or the subtle ones “Panget <333 ” (okay, maybe not too subtle)

19. “Eyeball?” means you need to stay away from that chatbox … unless you want to meet that person in the flesh.

(Photo from Yahoo! Messenger features page)

(Photo from Yahoo! Messenger features page)

20. It’s acceptable to have cartoon or anime characters as a profile photo. Dressing up your own avatar for fun is also a big deal.

21. Got nothing to talk about? Games and doodles to the rescue!

22. The emotional pain of getting kicked out of a group is REAL. Unless you asked for it.

*Yahoo_01 kicked messenger_o805 from the group*

Oops, that was harsh. Harsh truth. :((

 

Got more funny experiences-turned-unforgettable memories on YM? Comment your answers below and let’s relive the messenger moments.

2 Replies to “22 Things that 20-somethings learned from Yahoo! Messenger as a kid”

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