IRC channels as virtual communities

The previous blog post made me think about my own experiences in virtual communities. I tried to decide which one of the communities has been the most important one for me. My choice isn't any particular site on the web, but one specific IRC channel.

I had never actually thought that IRC channels can be thought as virtual communities also, but after all IRC channel is a bunch of people with common interests communicating through common medium online. IRC channels often have their own communicational protocols and rules and people have different roles in the community, e.g. web forums may have admins, IRC channel has its operators. Web forums have pests called lurkers, in IRC we just call them idlers. Some of the channels die just because its members can't keep up active conversation, so traditional online communities and IRC channels also face the same problems.

I have used IRC for about 10 years now although I have not been that active all the time. I've had many long breaks in my IRC use. The users on channels have changed over the years and some of them have quit IRCing for good, but it always good to come back and 'see' the familiar people and catch up with them. When I moved away from home in 2003, I already had dozens of friends in the city I moved into and I think my life could be different in so many ways without them (whether in good or in bad). IRC has proved that people can really develop strong bonds with each other online and IRC can really alter the way people act in real life - the company makes one alike in IRC also.