Do you use IRC?

[LOL ANARCHY NUBZ]

I tend to not use it.

[Charlotte Ryberg]

I'm not a full blow-out devoted fan to IRC but I do use it since I heard of the MaxChat.

[United Russian State]

No, I don't see any reason why I would need to. I just use the telegram thing.

[Kanabia]

Years ago I did, but it's really old hat now, having been superseded my msn etc.

I wonder why, though, as you don't need to register or look at adverts with IRC. You cant IM people though, maybe that's the catch?

Well there's that - although you can have one-on-one private chats, I don't believe it's possible in the framework to have a contact list, although it's been ages so I could be mistaken. In my opinion, it's also the random factor, which is probably what killed programs like ICQ as well.

MSN, for example, is basically a private list of contacts. Generally anyone on your MSN list is someone you have consented to be on there. The only people that can contact or converse with you on it are contacts that you probably already know to some degree. On top of that it's extremely simple to use.

IRC is primarily random conversation. If you've never used it before, you join a channel, and enter into a room full of people you've likely never met before. It's something that takes a lot of use before you feel like you're part of the community, and like forums, newcomers can be ignored or forgotten quite a bit, because people generally only know you by a username. It's also more inaccessible and less user friendly than modern IM programs with a lot of obscure commands that remain hidden, unless you wade through the documentation or risk ridicule by asking someone "hey how did you make your text green?" or whatever. So it really only continues to appeal to the core crowd who have been using it for years, and fails to attract newcomers. It has it's uses still, but is becoming quite out of date as other programs become equally suitable for web conferences or things like the MaxChat mentioned just now.

When IM programs first began popping up, IRC became less popular. ICQ (which lets you randomly search for and meet new people based on interests and so on) was one of the early ones, but still had this "random" feel to it. Often you'd spend time chatting to people you'd never met before, which is okay if you enjoy that sort of thing, but I think the evidence shows that people would rather have their privacy and chat to people they already know - hence why MSN has taken over, and why I believe Myspace is declining (because people rather their own private spaces, ala Facebook, rather than get messages from a few dozen crappy unsigned bands, nightclubs, or random people every day).

In summary, I think if people want to chat over the internet, they generally prefer to do it with people they already know to some degree, or otherwise use an environment that is less fluid and where what you have to say is more likely to be noticed and read - like a forum.

[Fartsniffage]

I do now.

The NS General channel is very quiet....

[Czardas]

I do now.

The NS General channel is very quiet....

Aye, I noticed that in the days when I used to lurk there -- it's virtually empty except for Katganistan and one or two other people.

The main NS channel has somewhat more activity, but I can't say the conversations are particularly interesting most of the time. Presumably that's because only three people are actually awake and talking about stuff right now, and moreover they're just using it as a sort of multiplayer notepad in between playing some video game or other.

[Rejistania]

I'm on Esper, Freenode, Quakenet, a German irc server called freigeisterhaus and during NaNo in the NaNoWriMo chatroom.

[Barzan]

I do now.

The NS General channel is very quiet....

Aye, I noticed that in the days when I used to lurk there -- it's virtually empty except for Katganistan and one or two other people.

The main NS channel has somewhat more activity, but I can't say the conversations are particularly interesting most of the time. Presumably that's because only three people are actually awake and talking about stuff right now, and moreover they're just using it as a sort of multiplayer notepad in between playing some video game or other.

When I went on there was no one but a bot, I think.

I tend to be connected to freenode and foonetic, however most of the time I’m not in any of the channels. When I am, it’s usually #xkcd on foonetic (and sometimes xkcd-related ones, like #bucket), and #vim or #ubuntu on freenode. I also connect to Mozilla’s one when I want to bug my dad.

How do you use IRC

With an IRC client.

and what do you do O_O

Talk to people. Or listen to people. Or ignore people.

Anybody know a good IRC client? The one I use (Trillian) sucks.

[Kanabia]

Anybody know a good IRC client? The one I use (Trillian) sucks.

mIRC was good.

[The Tofu Islands]

Anybody know a good IRC client? The one I use (Trillian) sucks.

I use irssi, but it may not be your cup of fur. I’ve also used mibbit, which is okay but not that great (the smilies are particularly irritating). If you use Firefox, you could try chatzilla (I haven’t actually tried it, but I’ve heard it works fine).

[Cameroi]

nope. not at all.
much as i love people and want them to be happy, i'm not a 'people person'.
i don't get on the net to be social. although, i suppose, what i do log on for,
to some degree takes the place in my life, that being more social probably does
for people more closely enslaved to what the dominant culture tells them to expect of themselves and each other.

i tried a couple of those chat channel things.
the problem i found is that people having left me messages or waiting to converse with me
distracted too much from what i was logging on to do first.

which, as always, is to create and explore, on the net that means primarily explore,
but i once participated more in the creating end of it and who known but someday might again.

[Teccor]

I use Xfire... is that considered IM, though? Probaly so.

I don't see the need for chatrooms. I'm sure some do, but I don't. I don't even use my cell phone to text.

[Call to power]

no because large convos annoy me enough on MSN without being spammed by bots

irc.esper.net #nationstates_general

I totally read that as asper and lol'd

[Barzan]

Anybody know a good IRC client? The one I use (Trillian) sucks.

I use irssi, but it may not be your cup of fur. I’ve also used mibbit, which is okay but not that great (the smilies are particularly irritating). If you use Firefox, you could try chatzilla (I haven’t actually tried it, but I’ve heard it works fine).

So that's what Chatzilla is! I've always wondered what it was, but never enough to actually read the blurb describing it.

Cheers.

I don't even use my cell phone to text.

I do so, but only sparingly. If I'm going to have a conversation, I'll talk. That's what mobiles are for. If I want to type, I'll use a keyboard on a computer and the internet.

[EvilDarkMagicians]

I'm on it now

[Western Mercenary Unio]

No, could start using it.

[Barzan]

I'm on it now

I see you on there!

[The Tofu Islands]

No, could start using it.

Beware though, IRC isn’t like twitter.

[Call to power]

No, could start using it.

Beware though, IRC isn’t like twitter.

http://badwebcomics.wikidot.com/xkcd

I swear to god if that website gets linked on this forum one more damn time...