AOL Instant Messenger Tutorial

Despite the simplicity of AOL Instant Messenger, there are many fun and beneficial things you can do with it! What you need to do first is sign up for a free Instant Messenger screen name. You need to go to AIM's website that's provided in the links list. You must also download the most recent version of AIM. You can do it in whatever order you'd like to. Use your screen name and password to sign on to AIM. Next thing you need to do is configure your buddy list. There are sections by default. These sections are Buddies, Family, and Co-Workers. If you would like to change those titles go to set up (the button with the + and -) click it and then right click on the title you'd like to change. It will have the option to "Edit name". Also, something cool you can do while you're in the set up area there's also an option to "sort list". This will make your buddies go in alphabetical order. 

There are two ways that you can add buddies. You can go to the set up button and click it. Click the section you'd want to add your buddy and then click add buddy, and type in the screen name of your friend. The other way you can add someone to your list is in the actual IM box itself. On the bottom of the Instant Message it says "add buddy". Click that and it'll take you to the same set up screen that you use to manually add buddies. Now that we have that covered…what about when you want to go away? Well, they have an option for you to put an away message up while you go to eat or do whatever in the world you would need to go do. Go to "My AIM", select "Away Message", and "New Message…". Type what you would like your buddies to know and click "I'm Away", if you're going away. If you would like to use this away message more than once, then check the save box before pressing "I'm Away".