In the early 2000s it seemed like every middle, high school and college student was on AOL Instant Messenger.  Much to the chagrin of parents everywhere, kids would lord over the family computer all afternoon after school, chatting with their friends over who knows what.  Since laptops were still luxury items back them, kids had to develop shorthand code (such as P911 for when a parent walked in to the room) to protect their super private conversations.