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 worksHoliday Themed collects icons with seasonal festive signals, especially Christmas text, wreath and stocking motifs, snow-like ornaments, and framed holiday greetings. In these tiny images, tiny stars, dotted ribbons, and repeated holiday phrasing provide the identifying cue more than facial detail.
![Red background with green dotted border, black text reading "santa's away ... sit on mi lappp =]" and small green tree icons in bottom-right corners of four](/image/0a326916a4a75dc6ae3d291e270dbd054ecfc2d1dede20b5706e9aae83071927){kind=small}
