Microsoft shut down Skype, the internet-based phone and video call service, on Monday, 14 years after the tech company bought it for $8.5 billion.
Microsoft announced in February that Skype users could opt into integrating their accounts with Microsoft Teams for free or export all of their data from Skype ahead of the shutdown. Microsoft Teams offers one-on-one and group calls similar to Skype and its more contemporary competitors Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp and Google Meet.
"Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications and supporting countless meaningful moments, and we are honored to have been part of the journey," Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms, said in a blog post.
Skype originally launched in 2003 and quickly gained popularity as an option for users to make free voice calls over the internet to anyone in the world. Three years later, after it was acquired by eBay, Skype launched video calling, making video calls more accessible to the general public.
While Skype has been losing users for the last few years, going from around 40 million in March 2020 to around 36 million in February 2023, Skype fans were still saddened by Microsoft's announcement. Several commemorated their fond memories of the platform on social media, sharing clips of Skype's distinct call sound and visuals of how the program's look evolved over the last 20 years.
In honor of Skype’s demise, we look back at some other beloved apps and social platforms from the 2000s and 2010s that are no longer with us.
Vine (2012-2017)
Vine was a short-form video hosting platform where users could film and upload clips of six seconds or less that would then play on a loop. Four months after it was founded, the company was bought by Twitter for $30 million.
After Vine launched as an iOS and Android app in early 2013, it became the most-used video sharing app on the market. By 2015, the app had 200 million monthly active users.
The problem with Vine — and why competing platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram Reels went on to succeed — was that it did not have a way for users to earn money directly through their videos. After confronting Vine executives over the lack of profitability in 2016, many top-performing Vine creators started turning to other video platforms to make money.
Finally, in October 2016, Vine announced it was going to be discontinued. But several major Vine creators are still in the spotlight thanks to their start on the app, including YouTubers David Dobrik and Jake and Logan Paul, as well as pop singer Shawn Mendes.
AIM (1997-2017)
AOL Instant Messenger (more commonly known as AIM) was an instant messaging service that allowed people to message each other in real time and for free. You would make a custom username and could set "away" messages, build out profiles with song lyrics and quotes, and send messages to other AIM users at any time, even if they weren't online at the same time you were. There were also chatbots that users could message to get stock updates, weather information or dating advice.
By 2000, there were 61 million AIM users; by the mid-2000s, AIM had the largest share of the instant messaging market in North America. It also helped launch much of the internet lingo we still use today, such as "LOL" ("laugh out loud") and "BRB" ("be right back").
Soon, other tech companies started launching their own, more advanced messaging platforms, like Google Chat.
In December 2017, AIM shared its last away message and announced it would be discontinued, saying, "The way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed."
MSN Messenger (1999-2014)
Microsoft developed MSN Messenger to compete with AIM. It also required users to create unique usernames and allowed them to write their own statuses and bios. By the mid-2000s, it had evolved into Windows Live Messenger, which, like Skype, started offering audio and video calls as options instead of just instant messaging.
In 2009, Microsoft reported that its messaging app had 330 million active users. But three years later, in 2012, the company announced it would be retiring Windows Live Messenger and replacing it with Skype.
Friendster (2002-2015)
Friendster is considered one of the original social network sites, predating Facebook (2004) and MySpace (2003), where people could connect with other users, share content on their profiles and message each other. It also helped people find out about local events and up-and-coming bands and bond with strangers over shared interests.
By 2008, Friendster had more than 85 million members worldwide — most of them based in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. It was the first global online social network that supported different languages on a single internet domain, so people from all over the world could speak to each other.
But in 2009, it started experiencing performance issues and was sold to MOL Global, a payments company in Malaysia, for $39 million. In 2010, MOL sold the intellectual property behind Friendster to Facebook for $40 million. Five years later, the site shut down for good.
Picnik (2005-2013)
Picnik was an online photo editing service that allowed users to edit photos, add filters and text, and even combine multiple images for free.
In 2010, Picnik was acquired by Google and, two years later, announced that it would be moving its photo editing tools to Google Photos rather than operating as a separate website.
After the 2012 announcement, one of the site's original employees, Lisa Conquergood, said, "Sixty million voices cried out when Picnik died."
Omegle (2009-2023)
Omegle was a website-based online chat service where users didn't need to create an account to speak to people. The site would randomly pair people in one-on-one instant messaging conversations. In 2010, it evolved into pairing random strangers in video chat conversations.
Omegle was created by then 18-year-old Leif K-Brooks while he was living at home with his parents. Without any marketing, the site was getting around 150,000 daily visitors within a month after it launched. By the mid-2010s, there were reportedly around 15,000 people on Omegle at any given time.
But in 2019, Omegle faced a $22 million lawsuit from a teenager in Oregon who blamed the platform for making her a victim of child sex exploitation. As a result, in late 2023, K-Brooks announced he would be shutting down Omegle because of the stress and expense.
“Over the years, people have used Omegle to explore foreign cultures; to get advice about their lives from impartial third parties; and to help alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation,” K-Brooks wrote. “Unfortunately, there are also lowlights. Virtually every tool can be used for good or for evil, and that is especially true of communication tools, due to their innate flexibility.”
Formspring (2009-2013)
Before Reddit’s AMAs, Formspring gave anonymous internet users the chance to ask strangers anything they wanted. At its peak, there were over 30 million registered users and over 4 billion posts on the platform.
When Formspring's founder and CEO, Ade Olonoh, announced that it would be shutting down in 2013, Forbes reported it had to do with failing to develop a revenue model that could compete with similar platforms, such as Quora and Tumblr.
Ask.fm (2010-2024)
Ask.fm was a question-and-answer social network that launched to compete with Formspring. Ask.fm users would have to create a profile, but they could still be anonymous, and, in 2021, users became able to communicate privately over direct messages.
By 2013, the company reached 65 million registered users and was seeing around 190 million unique visitors per month.
Over the years, Ask.fm kept rebranding but eventually announced it would be shutting down in December 2024.
"Unfortunately, our 'Ask and Answer' platform no longer meets current needs," the announcement said, referring to social media platforms like X and Reddit.
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