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 worksFixed Width Font notes lettering that appears in monospaced, uniform-width character styling, often repeated in blocks or strips. The words are usually rendered in grid-like pixel text rather than flowing script, helping the composition look deliberate and machine-like.
![Red pixelated text on black and blue backgrounds reads "mr smith sucks =] so does scimillio" in four distinct](/image/0b8b4f4b68288118022185fac353b87021cbbb1635d793cec520a773c40bebb0){kind=small}
![Red text 'Elaine Noel Shimmoms Rox :]' on black-and-white checkered background with two distinct patterns](/image/2621bf3855b950feb352bf36ffe5bfc636ebaf4825255e6c5b9e2bf6efd0cd03){kind=small}
![identical pixelated text icons on a bright pink background, each displaying 'Steph Mayte.=] Loves You.<3' with scattered white stars](/image/2ddaf79b92d632fe5d8a5ed01400e501a5784b82163b1a31b9bb18aaf990c775){kind=small}
