It was used in the 1991 Soviet Union coup attempt to report through a period of censorship in the media and by Kuwaitis during the First Gulf War, events after which the IRC gained popularity.ĭuring the first half of the decade of the 2000 most networks they experienced a rapid increase of users, corresponding with the popularization of internet and especially Chat networks. Since then, the majority of networks have suffered a stagnation or a decline in the number of users, despite the increased use of the Internet. The fall coincides with the popularization of other types of networks, such as instant messaging or social networks. IRC was created by Jarkko Oikarinen (aka “WiZ”) in August 1988 to replace the MUT (multi-user talk) program on a BBS called OuluBox in Finland. Oikarinen was inspired by the Bitnet Relay Chat which operated on the Bitnet network. IRC users use a client application to connect to a server, running an IRCd application (IRC daemon or IRC server) that manages channels and wall conversations.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based real-time communication protocol, which allows discussions between two or more people. It differs from instant messaging in that users do not have to agree to establish communication beforehand, in such a way that all users who are in a channel can communicate with each other, even if they have not had any previous contact. The conversations take place in so-called IRC channels, designated by names that usually begin with the character # or & (the latter is only used in local channels on the server). It is a chat system widely used by people all over the world.

Mirc chat hispano