Visualize Local AIM Chatter Volume in Google Earth

Though it's not as sexy as new ways to communicate like social networking, instant messaging remains a huge part of our online lives. And AOL Instant Messenger is still one of the more dominant platforms. Now you can see just how much people use the network every minute.

Earlier this year AOL Greenhouse quietly added several KML feeds that you can plug into Google Earth (here's why/how). One of them (KML) uses IP-to-city geocoding to display all the AIM conversations that have started in the last minute- in real time. Another (KML) tracks the locations of the top AIM Fight users. These are a bit buggy, so I would advise using the combined KML feed.

The data stream is fun to watch and gives you a sense foe just how chatty your town is. Keep in mind that a lot of this maps back to the IP addresses of ISPs so not every city and town is adequately represented.