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How do I stop jerks bugging me on AOL's AIM?

I still have a few old friends who prefer AIM so I use it as one of my instant messenger options (though through Adium, not the dismal AIM application from AOL). Problem is, I sporadically get IM messages from porn site owners and other dopes. Blech! How do I block all of these jerks so the only time I ever hear from AIM is when it's one of my friends?

Dave's Answer:

Since you mentioned Adium, I can deduce that you're running Mac OS X, and you're absolutely right, the AIM application for the Mac is not exactly the most thrilling program, but, to be fair, as a simple IM app, it is pretty good. (make sure you have the latest version, btw: it's improved HUGELY in the last year or so).

Adium, on the other hand, is still pretty darn cool: I use it too, and I love having a single app that works with AIM, Yahoo's YIM, MSN, Gtalk, and more. One app to rule them all. Except... except it doesn't appear to properly block people when they bug you on AIM.

Fortunately, it's not too painful to just launch the AIM application itself and use it to tweak your own privacy settings, and that's what I'll demonstrate. Don't have the latest version? You can download AIM for Mac OS X easily enough.

Okay, so, step one:

Choose Preferences... and you'll see this:

Not quite what we want: click on "Privacy" along the top. Now you're in the right spot:

The key here are the three choices under "Who can contact me?" I strongly suggest that you change it to the setting "Allow only users on my Buddy List". Make that change, then just close the window (I kinda wish there was an "Okay" or "Apply" button from a usability perspective, but that's another story).

Now you should be shielded from the jerks and weirdoes on AIM. Well, other than those that you're already friends with! :-)

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Categorized: Mac OS X Help , MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Social Network Help (Article 8916)
Tagged: aim, aol, gtalk, mac os x, msn, yim
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Comments

Trillian (www.ceruleanstudios.com) is a very good IM client also, working with AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ and others simultaneously.

Posted by: PaulM at June 3, 2009 9:41 AM

Trillian is nice enough for Windows users (and recently for Mac also, apparently) but as a KDE on Linux user I prefer Kopete http://kopete.kde.org/ for all my instant messaging needs. As mentioned in the article, there's also Adium for Mac users and Pidgin http://www.pidgin.im/ available for all three of the major operating systems. What all of these programs have in common that makes them so great is that you only need to choose ONE program for instant messaging regardless of what instant messenger accounts you have. MUCH nicer than having a half a dozen programs open just to keep in touch with friends/family/co-workers, etc.

Posted by: Silver Knight at June 3, 2009 5:49 PM

I have a lot to say, but ...

I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!