Yahoo Messenger logs off after 20 years; fans mourn the end

Launched on March 9, 1998, the messaging app failed to keep up in the time of WhatsApp and Facebook.

By ET Online | Jul 17, 2018, 02.04 PM IST

It is the end of an era for 90s kids as Yahoo shuts down its once-popular Messenger after a 20-year run.

Yahoo, owned by Oath, which is a part of the telecom giant Verizon, had earlier stated that users will have six months to download their chat history.

It has reportedly been working on another group messaging app, Squirrel, which is likely to be the replacement.

At a time of WhatsApp and Instagram Direct, Yahoo Messenger failed to keep up.

Launched on March 9, 1998 as Yahoo Pager, the service was later re-branded as Yahoo Messenger in 1999. In 2009, it reportedly had 122.6 million users.

As the service ends today, Twitterati turned nostalgic and mourned the end of the Messenger.

Logging in to #YahooMessenger one last time. End of a cyber era. (1998-2018) �� https://t.co/jmIYLH8O5r
— T.S.Suresh (TS) (@editorsuresh) 1531811340000

Going through all of my Yahoo Messenger chats dating all the way back to 2007 �� goodbye yahoo messenger https://t.co/1VwoczDRHl
— Ryan Richards (@pastapartyry) 1531808414000

There was a chatting app called Yahoo messenger and it used to be the best https://t.co/uI7tZOF9HP
— TheRedTshirtHumour (@RedTshirtHumour) 1531558906000

Tomorrow is the end of a cyber era. Yahoo Messenger is going away. I started using it in 1998 and still use it to c… https://t.co/GtBFBWscKY
— Timmy (@TimmyinWV) 1531756576000

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