Let's Talk About Chat

Chat the Traditional Way, Using IRC

In order to really savor all that chat has to offer--once you get hooked on the hobby, say--you'll want to try Internet relay chat (IRC), which is simply an Internet-standard way for people to chat using their computers. Because it's the standard, IRC is also the most established way to chat, which translates into a huge variety of chat topics and a choice of numerous chat programs.

For IRC, you need an IRC program (sometimes called a chat client). Using the chat client, you connect across the Internet to a chat server and pick a channel, or chat group.

No question, IRC is more of a hassle to set up and to use than browser-based chat. But the payoffs can be worth it. Most IRC software lets you participate in multiple chats at once, color each person's comments in different shades (to identify friends quickly, for instance), ignore text from others (so you're not overwhelmed by knuckleheads' blather, a curse of many chat rooms), and even send files back and forth to one another.

The problem is that most IRC software is shareware. (You can download it for free, then you're supposed to pay for it if you use it.) But part of the pleasure of chatting is that it's a no-cost activity. That's why I recommend Visual IRC 97, a free chat client that you download from a Web site in Great Britain. It's one of the easiest to set up and learn how to operate.

IRC is notorious for topics that aren't quite family-friendly (including some that most adults wouldn't dare venture near). A calmer locale for IRC-like chat (even though it's not really IRC) is Tribal Voice. Using the free PowWow chat program, which you download from Tribal Voice, you can join hundreds of chat communities.