which was released several months before AOL's own instant messenger, had 100 million registered users in 2001. But over time, ICQ lost out to competing instant messengers and smartphone chat apps ...

"You can chat with friends in VK Messenger ... ICQ predates other popular IM services like AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) which became synonymous with the instant messaging space.

In the heady days of 1997, when AOL Instant Messenger came into the world ... with other random strangers as one might in chat rooms or on message boards. Then the game truly changed: AIM ...