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2005 - 2019
BlackBerry Messenger
“PIN me.”
- Birth year
- 2005
- Shutdown year
- 2019
- Lifespan
- 14 years
- Peak era
- 2008-2012
- Company
- BlackBerry
- Category
- Messaging
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What Was It?
BBM made the BlackBerry PIN a social currency and turned message delivery marks into a language of their own.
Sharing a PIN was a way to invite someone into a more immediate conversation than email. Delivery indicators made the progress of a message visible, while the dedicated messenger gave BlackBerry owners a recognizable place to keep in touch. The relationship between the handset and the service was part of its appeal.
The closure remembered here is the consumer BBM service. Its story is about a particular social experience around BlackBerry phones, rather than a claim that every enterprise product or technology carrying the BBM name ended with it.
Things You Probably Forgot
- PIN exchanges
- R and D indicators
- Broadcast messages
The Story
- 2005 BBM launched.
- 2019 The consumer service closed.
How It Died
BlackBerry ended its consumer BBM service as mobile messaging consolidated elsewhere.
What Replaced It?
Memories
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