MSN Messenger was Microsoft's hugely popular instant messaging service in the early 2000s, when millions of people chatted daily on Windows computers and waited for friends to come online. Its message alert became one of the most recognisable sounds of that era, instantly linked to after-school chats, status updates and the excitement of a new conversation starting. After the service closed, the chime lived on in nostalgia videos, memes and soundboards, where creators use it to signal retro technology, old internet culture and the simpler feeling of waiting for a reply.