Gaia Online Launches New Instant Messaging Feature Powered by AOL’s AIM Service

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gaia Online, the world's most active online community, today announced the launch of a new instant messaging feature called Gaia Instant Messaging (GIM) powered by AOL’s AIM service, the most popular instant messaging service in the United States.

“By leveraging AOL’s AIM service we’re able to provide Gaians with the tools to find friends and meet up in the community to watch movies, play games, or simply chat with each other much easier than before.”

By integrating AIM functionality within Gaia’s online community, GIM will provide a new interactive experience for Gaia members to connect with each other. With over 7 million active members, Gaia continuously looks for new and innovative ways like GIM to drive further engagement within the community. Gaia recently released the new feature and visitors are already sending over 2 million instant messages each day via GIM.

“Accessible communication tools are essential to providing an interactive experience for online teen and young adult audiences,” said Prakash Ramamurthy, VP of Product Management and Engineering at Gaia Online. “By leveraging AOL’s AIM service we’re able to provide Gaians with the tools to find friends and meet up in the community to watch movies, play games, or simply chat with each other much easier than before.”

Gaia developed GIM using the freely-available APIs provided by AOL’s Open AIM program, which enables developers to easily integrate AIM functionality into their websites and applications. No download is required to use GIM and the application appears in a separate web browser.

Members can message each other individually, as well as participate in fully interactive group messaging sessions in GIM. In addition, GIM enables users to teleport to wherever their friends are within the website. By integrating AIM into Gaia, members have more ways to engage and interact within the larger Gaia community.

For more information about the new GIM feature on Gaia, visit www.gaiaonline.com.

About Gaia Online

Founded in 2003, Gaia Online is the leading hangout on the web. More than seven million visitors come to Gaia every month to make friends, play games, watch movies in Gaia Cinemas, Gaia's virtual theaters, and participate in the world's most active online community. Gaia provides a fun, social environment that inspires individuality and creativity. With everything from art contests to discussion forums on poetry, politics, celebrities and more, to fully customizable profiles, digital characters and cars, Gaia is a place where teens can create their own space and express their individual style. For more information, visit www.gaiaonline.com.