AIM safe on computer?

Question

Young family member wants to install AIM on my computer. Is it safe? No spamming, spyware, bloated software? All kinds of DLL's running?

Pros and Cons appreciated.

Answer 1

AIM is completely safe as long as the owner of the account does not post and pictures of themselves. Members can choose who they want to be buddies with by accepting friend invites and sending their own. Also, members can either keep their profile page private, meaning only their buddies can view it, or public, which means anybody can view it. Members can chat with their friends, play games over QQ with other people, or spend time customizing their profile. It is safe and their have never been any accounts of pedophile's or molesters.

Answer 2

Hi

There's no spamming, spyware, bloat software in AIM. As long as the AIM person doesn't click unknown links in other users' profiles. Also, do not fill out the Basic Info that asks for name, location, age, etc. That way unknown users can not contact you. They search by typing specific location, hobbies therefore they can see your screen name in the results box. (When I was younger I filled it out, alot of weirdos IMed me until I deleted my basic info).

Pros:

Not many Ads, No Spammers,

Cons:

You won't know if users have added you on the his/her friend list.

Answer 3

It is safe for your computer.  I am 18 and have had it for 6 years, and my husband is a computer genius and he uses it too...and he wouldn't if it did something bad.  He needs to just watch out for people he doesn't know. There are ways to block certain people from your buddy list if he/she is being harassed.  Also make sure your child doesn't share files with other people.  It is really easy to send pictures and files and if someone sends him/her a file that has a virus or a website that has a virus your computer can catch it as well.  So as long as they don't open files from other people or accept any people they don't know your child and the computer should be safe.  But if you are still concerned just install a firewall on your computer that will block cookies like Norton.

Answer 4

The older AIM 5.9 Classic version does not use the IE objects and is not vulnerable. AOL has also made fixes to it under development in AIM 6.5 client as well.

PROS:  not as resource hungry as MSN or ICQ or Yahoo; simple to use; integrated into Gmail webmail

CONS:  quality of the communication through video and audio is not as good as MSN.  Can be difficult to remove since it integrates itself with numerous computer programs.

Answer 5

AIM is safe as long as your kid knows to ignore people they don't know.  You can help them out by selecting "block all users not on my buddy list" in the preferences.  This will prevent any spambots from trying to get your child to click a dangerous link.