irc ·
12 June 04

I was asked by friends to join an IRC channel.

IRC, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is a universe filled with like-minded people who wish to communicate using their keyboard, using abbreviations, acronyms and such.

a universe filled with like-minded people who wish to communicate using their keyboard

I detest IRC for several reasons. One my greatest dislikes, is the hilarity of watching around 30 people within an IRC channel (referred to as a room sometimes) whereby conversations are about as active as a dead horse, killed several years earlier. Yes folks, IRC, is a wonderful place where you can Internet Relay Chat.

It drives me insane to think that people actually use it as a form of communication, when they communicate nothing. Idling, sitting in a channel, twiddling their thumbs behind their monitors, in expectation at an interesting conversation that may appear at any minute, they they could jump into.

By what logic people feel the need to let their connection link to a server, with a number of like-minded people, who refuse to communicate, or even initiate conversation with one another, defies my understanding.

IRC should change its name to ISS – Internet Silent Sitting, as that is about as productive as I have seen it. Of course, there are channels which do have activity, though pathetic for the most part, as it usually boils down to moronic conversations about “mine is better than yours” or those in charge deciding to exercise their powers by kicking off members from the channel or server. Perhaps IRC is really for those that feel a need for a community, that need to at least believe they are in communication with others, even if they are not.

Who knows? All I am aware of, is that IRC is the least productive form of communication, it is also where the majority of the village idiots decide to make their home.

Join IRC? Keep it.