
Some conventions were universal, while others were specific to a certain channel, server, or geography. As a result, language conventions emerged over time.

Rules often covered involved conversation topics and appropriate tone of voice. IRC channels followed a self-organized governance structure, as channel participants instituted their channel rules collectively, and allocated decision-making power however they saw fit. Beyond text, it is possible to transfer files among users, which became a popular feature once higher-bandwidth internet connections became available in the 2000s. IRC users use a pseudonym, or ‘nick,’ which can be allocated upon connection to the server and oftentimes also registered in order to prevent other users from using the same in the future (Latzko-Toth, 2014). Chat rooms could house anywhere between two and hundreds of users. IRC channels, also known as ‘chat rooms,’ were online spaces for synchronous conversations or simply real-time online chat. The concept of "channel" represented a major innovation at the time. IRC enables users running a client application to connect to a server, which may in turn be connected to other servers and clients around the world (Latzko-Toth, 2014). The first version of the protocol, along with the first server and client applications, were written by Jarkko Okarinen at the University of Oulu in Finland in 1988.
#IRC CHAT ROOMS SOFTWARE#
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a computer software and network of servers that facilitates text-based conversations on the Internet.
