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MSN Messenger: A Nostalgic Look Back at a Staple of the 2000s

September 10, 2021
Photo: Buzzfeed

“»-(¯`v´¯)-Fr!ɛnds R 4ɛvɛr, Guyz R whatɛvɛR-(¯`v´¯)-» has just signed in.” The excitement, the pure adrenaline rush that came when seeing your crush or love interest log on to MSN Messenger just moments after you was indescribable. Were they appearing offline and trying to grab your attention? Was it a completely random occurrence and – therefore – kismet? All that was left beyond that stage was waiting to see who would make the first move so the love story could begin – that is, unless your parents inconsiderately stood in the way of young love by deciding to make a phone call that would interrupt the dial-up connection. Despite later being branded as Windows Live Messenger, MSN Messenger will always be simply known as ‘MSN,’ and no amount of marketing or branding budgets could ever change that. Originally launched in 1999, the instant messaging platform was an at-the-time groundbreaking medium that acted as a Whatsapp-Facebook-Tinder mashup for young teenagers who were, more often than not, logged on from old, clunky computers strategically located in the living room to prevent them from obtaining enough privacy to access adult content. During those hormone-addled…


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