Journal: IRC IMHO

IRC in my humble opinion

IRC is Internet Relay Chat; I guess almost everybody reading this would know what IRC is. IRC is a huge -sometimes useful- community; however, it's got bad reputation amongst those who never used it. IRC can get addictive, and people in IRC can render into very weird unexpected people.

I've used IRC, and I'm still using it, I can't say that my experience with IRC has been positive in anyway, however, it has changed my life. It created this computer learning interest into me, and that's something I thank IRC for. However, IRC can get so sick in some aspects. Well, let's see ...

The funniest thing about IRC is that people merged badly into this community tend to call everything else, or rather everything off computers as real life. I don't know what every one of you would think about it, but I really *do* find it interesting. The only impression this would give, if any, is that this community is totally imaginary, and I find this really dangerous when some of us, including me sometimes, spends hours of their day `chatting`.

IRC has got its bad reputation because of illegal software distribution, porn, and hacking, I've once came over an article in CNN, it was funny, ahh well, better read it for yourselves here

.

Well, I'm mostly in QuakeNet. A supposedly *gaming* network, however, I'm not neither have idled in any gaming channel in IRC for more than, let's say, one day, and these were usually for none gaming purposes. QuakeNet doesn't allowed Porn, Warez, or Hacking. So well, IRC isn't always a place where credit card stealers gather (haven't seen ANYWHERE like this till now!).

Still, from the ethical side, I wouldn't even promote QuakeNet as good, first of all, people lack respect in many aspects, damage is good, and it's a hobby, corruption in the head of the network for instance. IRC operators (people responsible for keeping the network up) making stupid mistakes and blaming other for them. They say freedom, you get more censorship though.

Well, I think this means we'll have to build more into the ethical side of IRC so we can establish the following:

Better reputation for IRC

Less trouble with people trying to abuse IRC users, and that could be using trojans, cheats, or just fake trust relationships

Remove this power-lust that is seen allover IRC. from the smallest channel where the person with Op rights can kick or ban you, to the huge 100k network where the IRCop can Kill you, or Gline (A global ban from the network) you. This point especially isn't easy to conform to, the IRC standards based everything on this power difference relationship, and here I'm coding from RFC1459 "As an owner of a channel, a channel operator is not required to have reasons for their actions." I think it's quite clear how much power, and thus damage, IRC has.

Better inter-relation between IRC users, people in real life tend to have positive relations with others as much as they could, in IRC it's the opposite, if you try to be *polite* with someone, then you'll be considered *stupid* and he'll try to abuse you, normally.

Well, these are mostly hard to accomplish dreams, I admit, IRC will not change, it might even go worse as more people get their humanity reduced enough, they will then act much less than human should.

I can't talk here, in this public place, about my experience with IRC, I can just get some of the positive side, because I'd be really objective if I really thought of talking about negatives.

One really good thing about IRC is that people there are computer oriented, and so I am, in the past, I used to think I do know what I need, however, talking to these *nerds* caused me to recalculate my knowledge, I found it nothing, and I learned a lot since then, I learned some stuff I wouldn't have thought of learning on my own without IRC, however, I wouldn't suggest it to anybody.

One week ago, a good IRC mate of mine said goodbye, well, that wasn't to me only, and it was to all IRC. He left it without even feeling bad about leaving people he knew, and liked. I simply find this totally reasonable, IRC isn't a place any of us likes to stay all the day, but we have to do it. Well you'll knot believe me if you didn't really try it, but anybody addicted to IRC will agree. My friend left because he's been betrayed, betrayed by people he respected, and by others he didn't care for. Most of the people I have closely known in IRC had this kind of betrayal, bad treatment, or something of this type. Negative, ugly, sad, something that would make you explode if it was real life.

Anyway, I'll not keep talking all the day, I have a lot more to say, IRC shaped me into something different, I wish I can shape IRC myself too, I just wish, but who knows ...

Thanks for reading ...