The internet has been a revolution in bringing people together to chat and discuss ideas. It has taken the meaning of "community" beyond geographical location and formed global communities of people interested in the same things: religion, politics, parenting, sports and hobbies.
IRC has been around for quite some time but it hasn't been as well marketed as other chat programmes such as Yahoo, MSN, ICQ and FaceBook and it doesn't have many other features – it is purely about text-talk, which makes it easy to use.
What does IRC stand for?
IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. This is when two or more people are having a typed conversation online.
What is mIRC?
mIRC is a programme that lets people connect to IRC chat rooms and start typing.
Downloading mIRC
Anyone can download mIRC for free online. The programme can continue to be used for free for any length of time but in order to get rid of the registration reminder there is a one-off payment of $20.
Connecting to IRC
Once someone has downloaded and installed mIRC, they need to open the programme:
- When the registration reminder appears, click 'continue'
- Enter a name and e-mail address in the boxes provided
- Click the 'invisible mode' to hide the e-mail address entered
- Enter two nicknames. This will be become the user's "screen name", if somebody else is already using one it will use the second.
- Click 'connect'
The user will automatically be connected to QuakeNet but before they hit "connect" they can look through a list of other servers in the left-hand folder. Other popular servers include UnderNet and IRCNet.
Different servers will have different chat rooms on them. Sometimes there may be a problem connecting and the user will be asked to type a security pass number to connect. Literally type the instructions that display on the screen: /quote <number>and it should connect.
What are Channels?
Channels are different rooms where people can go to chat to other people. The name of a channel will always be preceded by a hash: #. When someone first connects to a server, a list of popular channels will appear in a box. To enter a channel, highlight one and click "join".
There are many other channels though. To join a channel that is not listed, simply type: /join # then the channel name.
Example: /join #buddhism
To see all piblic channels, typing: /list
To see channels with more than 50 people in, use the command: /list >50 or specify another amount.
What does PM mean?
PM stands for Private Message. This is when a person wants to talk to someone one-on-one instead of in a public channel. In each channel the people will be listed down the right-hand side. Simply double-click on a name to request a private chat.
Finding People to Chat to
There are many people on IRC but sometimes they do not say very much. This might be because of the time zone – maybe they are AFK (Away From Keyboard), or perhaps they are busy in PM or in another channel.
One way to see which other channels people are in is to use the command: /whois and then type the person's nickname.
Example: /whois redhorse – this will show which other channels that person is in. Then use the /join # command to view the channel.
Be Aware
IRC can be a lot of fun with the potential to meet some interesting people and discuss interesting topics, but remember that people might not always be as genuine as they seem. IRC is not recommended for young children, teenagers or vulnerable people without responsible adult supervision.
