irc is a chat system designed in the late 80s where you can commonly find me chatting.
instead of irc being a standalone app or website, you choose an irc-compatible application to connect to an irc server. it's a lot like email, you commonly choose your provider (e.g. gmail, yahoo), and then choose your email client (e.g. the default app on iphone or windows). even though the two weren't made by the same people, they still work together.
why?
irc is simple...pure....you can skim the rfc and tell me how it works. it doesn't shift from under you, it's stayed the same for decades, why does text chat need to be constantly changing?? the human voice doesnt change and neither do books. we dont have to sell ourselves out to type text, we already knew this when we chose websites over platforms.
and it's fun........it's a place to be free.......you can do whatever, and the people on there are all wacked up on open systems like we all are. if you're using it it's because you believe in something....those are the best type of people out there.
where to chat / my irc roll
the hardest part of using irc is figuring out where to chat, so i'm including a list of my favorite servers and channels.
libera.chat (
libera.chat/6697, ssl)#neozones, channel ran by owly for their neozones community. this is where i mostly hangout!!
bridged to the neozones discord server so there's a sizeable amount of daily discussion here. averages around ~3 irc users, but the bridge helps boost volume.
Snoonet (reddit irc) (
irc.snoonet.org/6697, ssl)#reddit, both channels are the most freeform of the entire list, anything goes, fun. averages around 100 people
#snoonet, averages around 150 people
tilde.chat (
irc.tilde.chat/6697, ssl)#meta, most active. bonus, this server lists the most popular channels when you join. averages around 400 people
#tilderadio, the official irc for tilde radio!!!! enter ,np for the current song (i'm always asking!!). averages around 100 people
bonus, w3c irc (
irc.w3.org/6679, ssl)#w3c / #sysreq, inactive, dead, intended for real w3c people, BUT included because it can be sweet if you wait. here's a chatlog that a friend sent me that makes me laugh. averages around 30 inactive people
how to chat (using hexchat)
hexchat is the easiest, and as a bonus it already includes the servers listed above so theres no configuration required to start chatting.
- go grab it from the hexchat website and open it up
- from the list of servers that hexchat gives you, find any of the ones i listed above
- once you're connected, type
/join #channel, e.g./join #neozones - START TALKING (maybe to me)