The ICQ messaging app is shutting down on June 26th, marking the end of a much-beloved communication application.
Before there was AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, or Discord (which came much later), there was a free messaging app called ICQ that over 100 million users used to coordinate plans, chat about life, or communicate while playing online games.
ICQ ("I seek you") launched in 1996, just a short time before AOL Instant Messenger, and was loved for its ease of use, 1-on-1 or group chats, and the ability to communicate with people all over the world in real-time for free.
In its heyday, ICQ boasted over 100 million users on its platform, which was a remarkable achievement at the time. In 2010, ICQ was purchased by Mail.ru (now VK), who has since owned the products as it declined in use.
Today, ICQ announced that they are shutting down on June 26th, recommending that users switch to VK Messenger and Workspace.
ICQ has not shared why they are shutting down, and BleepingComputer emailed VK to learn more, but a response was not immediately available.
However, this marks the end of a software that many have not used for years, but brings back a lot good memories.
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Comments
Amigo-A - 1 year ago
ICQ has been part of VK's asset portfolio since 2010. The last large-scale update of ICQ was carried out in 2020, amid self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ICQ employees will join the VK Messenger and VK WorkSpace product teams.
VK will focus on the further development of VK Messenger for users and corporate services based on the VK WorkSpace platform for business.
GT500 - 1 year ago
I wasn't aware that ICQ was even still online. I'm sorry to see it go, but I hadn't used it in over a decade. Everyone I know is either on Steam or Discord, the latter of which being one of the worst communication platforms I've ever seen and is run by idiots.
XSp - 1 year ago
End of an era, though arguably the original ICQ has been long gone... well over a decade and a half now. MSN Messenger killed it.
And I will forever hate and blame Microsoft's anti-trust practices for this.
It took over just like Facebook took over in social, and I'm of the opinion that everyone is worse for it. Everything is worse for it.
Only saving grace being that Microsoft got wrecked in the messaging space. They bought Skype and decided to shut down MSN Messenger, and I'm glad people did not make the shift majorly in my country. I can't even remember what it was next to MSN Messenger... did we go directly to WhatsApp, or was there something in between? AOL and Yahoo were never very popular in my country too. Perhaps just chatting on Orkut or something.
Before ICQ... was there a before? xD mIRC channels? I remember PowWow but not many people here used it.
ICQ also created a whole ton of the useful things most messengers have today, and imho did some stuff better than current messengers. There are still messengers today that have interfaces that are worse than ICQ.
Anyways, thanks for the service ICQ, you were part of the Internet better days.
deltasierra - 1 year ago
I wasn't aware ICQ was still online either. Brings back memories, but I ultimately spent more time and thus have more nostalgia over Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger.
Discord is a mess. Their CEO had to be escorted by U.S. Marshals after receiving a subpeona and ignoring it to testify in front of Congress over child/youth sexual exploitation and CSAM. Looking like big tech will finally lose their immunity to civil liability lawsuits (Section 230), depending on how cooperative they are and real progress made on improving safety and privacy for social media users.
My point is not the politics but the persistent dangers that have plagued social media even before that was a coined term. Remember our parents warning us of the dangers? We're thousands of lives dead or abused later, not just some rare instance on 60 Minutes or whatever TV drama. Parents can only supervise and lock-down these apps so much. So, if any of these leaders in the space don't convey a dire seriousness, I'm out (and so are my kids!).
GT500 - 1 year ago
I thought there was an exception in Section 230 that prevented it from covering CSAM related content and links. It's not something I'm particularly wanting to search though, so I'm not going to try to verify it.