Yahoo Messenger (YM) used to be one of the first applications that was set to start up whenever I turned on my computer. Back then when Yahoo was king, having it opened first meant getting all possible messages that might have been left while one is off the grid, including email.
Messages would pop and crowd you individually; emails have a different alert in the interface. It's like being rushed in the street by friends who for some reason have waited for you all night to get out of the house. They're not just lumped up as notifications.
Chat windows can be arranged on the desktop; offline people aren't smiling, online people have the familiar smile of the Yahoo brand. It's like talking to real people, that is if you can set people aside while they keep talking.
But more importantly I think, during its heyday this was a time when people had no random strangers on their contact list. For something to pop up, it means something.
I knew the app was in trouble when after years of new computers and the rise of cellphones; having always kept an installer of YM on file, one day I decided to install and log in. No one was smiling.
Newer messaging apps may have taken the load but Yahoo's particular interface is the one I'd miss.
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