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 worksIce Cream Cone points to buddy icons using a cone-and-scoop image as the main shape, often decorated with chips, swirls, and playful flavor colors. Small text snippets like teasing phrases and pink/green accent pairings help identify this motif fast.
![Pixelated ice cream cone with mint green swirls and chocolate chips on a light blue background, next to text reading "I SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM =]" on bright green.](/image/4dd7352dc3e8e1bbefe4cdae88872cde8d158b0dccfea384d16956f3bb7b31fa){kind=small}
![Pixelated ice cream cone with mint green swirls and chocolate chips on a light blue background, next to cyan text reading 'Summer Tiime :]' on beige.](/image/5ec0ce8031005a7a317b8efde40e8f72886233041c2df66e20200c8febbacbbd){kind=small}
