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 worksCrushes, romantic messages, couples, and the occasional broken heart. Explore affectionate pictures and declarations, or follow a smaller collection for a particular mood.
![Animated sequence showing 'i [heart] you' text with a glowing heart symbol on a purple gradient background, heart changes size and brightness across frames.](/image/aec5e5e51e7b9fc8630216491ecd3711d8a7b7b6fbcae8348c16d11efd60021f)
Words often make the message specific: a name, a declaration, or a breakup line can change how the same heart or pair of figures reads. Watch animated lettering through a complete loop. The smaller collections below separate some of those messages and motifs.
