Do you ICQ?

Do you ICQ?

ICQ was once the biggest instant messaging service back in the 90s. It used to be the default IM in most net cafes until it was slowly replaced by YM. Not sure what happened but it just faded away.

icq Besides, I no longer use IMs much these days (only recently found out that ICQ originally meant “i seek you” so the IM was aimed more like an avenue for meeting dates/friends).

For the last decade or two, ICQ tried to evolve and was positioning itself to be like Skype. And for some time, it was In the Philippines, Yahoo took over most of the leadership in web properties including instant messaging.

I guess that’s how trends come and go. Is there anyone out there still actively using ICQ?

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

38 Comments

vaughn says:

16 years ago

not me.. but i did frequently used it in the late 90s during online game sessions. it was only all text-based games back then. i still do check my offline msgs every few months or so :D usually from my old clanmates who now have kids who are about to go to high school..i feel old :(
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Darren says:

16 years ago

oh my god , this is my old time favorite before college. I used to chat with my gf via ICQ during high school, then in college suddenly everyone uses MSN. So like Yuga said, trend come and go, that’s it. I can’t barely remember my ICQ number. :P
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eros says:

16 years ago

i was christened by ym-era so i don’t know icq…
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godgets says:

16 years ago

icq.. uhmmm what is that again?
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Efren says:

16 years ago

dati gumagamit ako nyan pang contact ko sa mga clients..pero ngaun skype na and YM..pero ok din naman yan..
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iRon says:

16 years ago

i’ve heard and seen it before sa mga cafes since college days, but never catch my eye to use it. IRC is much a better place for meeting dates/friends.

t’was replaced by YM coz most of us uses the YahooMail. it is good to use webservices under one roof.
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Doc Harry says:

16 years ago

One of the problems with ICQ is that you’re identified by a number! Who wants to remember a string of numbers? Caller ID anyone?

I’m not surprised that it declined, but I am surprised it wasn’t bought up or sold off earlier to the then emerging Internet giants.
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Mindanao Bob says:

16 years ago

I was an early ICQ user, as a matter of fact, I had just a 4 digit ICQ number. Like you, Abe, I don’t chat any longer. It is too time consuming – a time waster, and if you get to the point where you have a large number of readers on your site, you sign on to something like ICQ or YM and you’ll be busy chatting all day because so many people will be wanting to talk. Unfortunate, but that’s how it is.
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Reel Advice says:

16 years ago

@Doc Harry
I have to agree with the identity number thingy! it was too long in the first place and very hard to remember! I think it was around 10 digits! :S
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vaughn says:

16 years ago

mine was 107064471 :D
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