- AIM buddy icons appear in chat windows as well as profiles. If a user has not chosen a buddy icon, a default image will appear in its place. Note that buddy icons will not be displayed unless you have established that you know the person and have had a conversation with them. To view your own buddy icon, place your mouse over your screen name and wait for your status to appear.
- AIM buddy icons must be 48-by-48 pixels and can be no larger than 7 kilobytes. This is important to know if you are creating your own AIM buddy icons. If you create an icon that is beyond these dimensions, it may display improperly.
- To choose your buddy icon, click "Edit" and choose "Expressions..." This will open up AIM Expressions in your browser. Choose the icon you would like to use from the list and click "Apply Now." To choose a custom buddy icon, click "Edit" and choose "Settings..." and then click the "Expressions..." tab. Underneath your buddy icon, click "Browse..." and select your icon from your hard drive.
- Because custom buddy icons may contain offensive material, the default option is to show only official buddy icons. You can change this by clicking "Edit" and choosing "Settings..." Next, click the "Expressions..." tab. Make sure that "All Buddy Icons" is checked if you want to view custom buddy icons.
- SuperBuddy icons are special AIM buddy icons that are animated and will emote depending on certain "Trigger Words." Because these icons may cause extra CPU strain for slower machines, you can disable these in "Settings..." To choose a SuperBuddy icon, open AIM Expressions and select "SuperBuddy" from the category menu.
