The popular instant messenger now allows two-way communications

Sep 8, 2009 09:42 GMT  ·  By
The popular instant messenger now allows two-way communications with Twitter and Facebook
   The popular instant messenger now allows two-way communications with Twitter and Facebook

A couple of months ago, AOL introduced a new feature for its instant-messaging client, AIM, the Lifestream, which allowed users to view the status updates of their friends from Twitter and Facebook by displaying their stream inside the application. Yahoo and Microsoft have also introduced similar features, but now AOL is stepping up the game with two-way communications, allowing users to post updates to Twitter or Facebook from inside AIM.

AOL is trying to reinvent itself as an original-content company, but it still has significant assets in some areas that have been somewhat neglected recently. One of them is the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), which is still one of the most popular IMs in the US. The new Lifestream was a first step towards making AIM more than just an IM client, but, with the possibility to also send updates to Twitter and Facebook, the application is beginning to compete, in a way, with dedicated desktop clients like TweetDeck and Seesmic.

But where the desktop clients have a two-way Facebook and Twitter integration, AIM is still very much an instant messenger at heart and, along with its huge install base, should it decide it wants to go down this route, there isn't that much that the two startups can leverage against it. Still, the feature is in its infancy and not that compelling at the moment.

The IM doesn't allow users to actually post to either Facebook or Twitter, rather the AIM status updates will also be forwarded to the social networks. There is also a way to respond to your friends' messages, but, as TechCrunch notes, it doesn't seem to be working very well. The new features are still in beta and still need some ironing out, though they do show the great potential of becoming a unified communications app.

The latest AOL Instant Messenger Beta is available for download here.