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Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

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Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#31

Post by cykros »

boca_honey wrote: post #25
lacunary wrote: post #5

can't ride a netsplit to takeover and +m a huge channel IRL

This made me feel so nostalgic. I haven’t heard the term "netsplit" in probably 25 years. It’s amazing how things that once seemed so important get relegated not just to history, but sometimes to total oblivion. Well, almost. Apparently, it has its own wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsplit

I still see the occasional netsplit.

But with modern nickname and channel services (Nickserv and Chanserv, mostly), and the very small IRC userbase, they certainly aren't as impactful as they once were.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#33

Post by Anonyneko »

bsuvc wrote: post #6

I am sure IRC was good for some people, but I can say for me personally it was a net negative and real life was so, so much better. I wish I never used IRC. I also personally witnessed multiple friends who dropped out of college due to IRC addiction in the early 1990s. I am curious if anyone else has a similar memory of IRC.

Depends a lot on where you were growing up, and what kind of community surrounded you. For me IRC and the internet at large was a salvation, but the 90s in my country of origin were... interesting times. Being on the internet was much healthier and much less hazardous than most of the things real life focused people in my age group were doing back then.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#34

Post by Guestmodinfo »

pidgeon_lover wrote: post #32

I don't get IRC - it seems to be antiquated unencrypted live group chats, with no usable clients. Group chats are useless for finding information and for communicating in between 10 ongoing conversations. Web forums make sense and are searchable.

IRC gives quick reply to whatever your queries are. In my extremely limited time on IRC, I have found very helpful and very prompt people.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#35

Post by ASalazarMX »

bsuvc wrote: post #6

I am sure IRC was good for some people, but I can say for me personally it was a net negative and real life was so, so much better. I wish I never used IRC. I also personally witnessed multiple friends who dropped out of college due to IRC addiction in the early 1990s. I am curious if anyone else has a similar memory of IRC.

> I also personally witnessed multiple friends who dropped out of college due to IRC addiction in the early 1990s.

I think there's always a segment of any population that will get addicted to anything, to the point of dropping family, friends, school, or work. Blame it on culture, nurture, genetics, unfulfillment, or simply lack of self control, but it always happens.

Blaming IRC, which is a pretty neutral outlet, is unfair. This is specially true today, as we have things designed and constantly honed to be as addictive as possible.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#36

Post by ASalazarMX »

blondie9x wrote: post #20

This made me really nostalgic about mIRC. I miss Dalnet. The colors of IRC. How fast and reliable it was. The rankings of members and trying to build credibility with the community to move up in the channel. Fun times.

What I don't miss is the plain text protocol. These days it would be a gold mine for tracking and surveillance.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#38

Post by dSebastien »

neom wrote: post #18
bsuvc wrote: post #6

I am sure IRC was good for some people, but I can say for me personally it was a net negative and real life was so, so much better. I wish I never used IRC. I also personally witnessed multiple friends who dropped out of college due to IRC addiction in the early 1990s. I am curious if anyone else has a similar memory of IRC.

QuakeNet in the 90s, I don't know what to say, thank you? It was high school for me, like, I got through high school, got into computers in high school, have great memories of that time: because of QuakeNet in the 90s. hackernews community is the closest things I've felt to that since then, but it's pretty hard to beat QuakenNet in the 90s.

Exactly the same.

I was also on some other servers, but QuakeNet felt special.

Re: Why IRC is better than Real Life (2000)

#39

Post by dSebastien »

blondie9x wrote: post #20

This made me really nostalgic about mIRC. I miss Dalnet. The colors of IRC. How fast and reliable it was. The rankings of members and trying to build credibility with the community to move up in the channel. Fun times.

Good memories endlessly tweaking configs and scripts.

No wonder we're around here now I guess

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