Microsoft are ditching Windows Live Messenger after 13 years and asking its users to sign up to Skype.
Since the service was launched in July 1999 when it was named ‘MSN’, at its peak over 330,000 million users were signing in every day.
A spokesperson from Microsoft has said: “We expect to retire Messenger in the first quarter of 2013 with the exception of mainland China, where Messenger will continue to be available.
“The ability to sign into Skype with the Microsoft account enables Messenger users to get their contact list automatically; Skype will offer Messenger users the ability to access IM as well as new features like calling land-lines and mobiles, screen sharing, video calling on mobile devices and much more.” said Microsoft.
Even though Windows Live Messenger is coming to an end, it will leave behind a bit of legacy with words such as ‘brb’ (be right back), ‘lol’ (laugh out loud) and ‘ROFL’ (rolling on the floor laughing) are still being used today.
Senior Lecturer in Journalism at The University of Lincoln Alex Lewczuk, he spoke about the influence instant messaging has had on the English language and how it is not a new phenomenon.
“What we have here is a generational thing which isn’t exactly new,” says Alex. We can go back to the 60’s when there was clearly a ‘teen speak’ and it’s not surprising that with the emergence of social media that there is an element to try and have a ‘coding’.”
“Essentially we’re talking about an encoding of language which can then be decoded by ones peers.”
With Facebook chat, Google Plus, Twitter and Skype still dominating the market, it’s anyone’s guess what will be the next techno craze to sweep the nation. But for now, it’s time to sign out of windows live messenger for the last time.
