MSN Messenger, Microsoft's hugely popular instant messaging service, dominated online chatting in the early 2000s before social media took over. Its notification sounds became part of everyday digital life for millions of users who signed in after school to talk with friends. The 2002 to 2005 version of the new message alert is especially remembered because it coincided with the service at its peak. Today creators reuse it as shorthand for that era, instantly placing a scene in a time of dial-up connections, custom emoticons and away messages.