From the archivist
It started with a game that needed a few authentic AIM icons. Then I had 1,000. Then 10,000. At some point, I had a buddy icon problem.
Read how this happenedYou made it this far
You have scrolled past 1,024 buddy icons, so I have some suspicions. My blog is where the other shiny digressions end up.
Subscribe to Shedletsky.comA language of tiny pictures
A picture barely 50 pixels wide, sitting beside an AIM screen name, could announce a mood, a fandom, an inside joke, or who someone wanted to be that day.
Read the short historyRecovered from the early web
Buddy icons survive in old directories, fan sites, downloadable packs, and web archives. The archive preserves the original files, groups known copies, and records where each one was found.
How the archive worksCyan Heart refers to icons that feature cyan heart symbols, sometimes replacing a character in text, sometimes appearing as standalone motifs. A cyan heart often acts as a compact emotional marker, whether placed beside phrases or in a repeated row.
![Pixelated text reads 'dont cha wish ur icon was hot like mehot like me lol :]'; cyan heart animation replaces the smiley in second view.](/image/9eb5a81487519f76a8a810ce6f3cffe1982df697570fd1376effba103eac47e5){kind=small}
![Pixelated text and a cyan heart symbol on black background, with two identical static frames showing 'i love you :] you know it' in white block letters.](/image/ae561c513cf29eb2a6504f8e8c227e9e0e3764bfcd0e2750126b159c307fdc12){kind=small}
![Pixelated text 'I luv Nick Jonas =]' on bright pink background with cyan heart and cyan dot cluster animations.](/image/cc9545e864f47c001e7775356ae7bffa57463c6ecbdac1e900b21ac243ac8104){kind=small}
