ICQ launched in 1996 and became one of the first widely used instant messaging services, with its distinctive notification sounds becoming part of everyday computer culture in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As later apps replaced it, those alerts survived in soundboards, YouTube edits and short-form videos, where they now signal an old-school message or a nostalgic callback. The reminder sound remains popular because it is instantly recognisable, short enough for quick edits and strongly linked to a time when online chat still felt new.