User experience of IRC reddit / irc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bigbarba · 2015-07-25 16:10 Hi everybody, I'm very new to irc. Can I ask you how do you manage your irc experience? I'd like to know about your typical way of using irc, things like: How many channels are you in at any given time? What do you use irc for? How do you approach your first entrance in a channel? Do not limit your answers to this. I'm curious to know more. The whole IRC universe is really fascinating to me, but I never figured how to get the most out of my user experience. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- arwilson2010 · 2015-07-25 16:33 Hello there bigbarba the world of IRC can be a fun and exciting place and based on your client, it can be quite confusing at first. Just to answer some of your questions I have been on IRC for almost a year now, and I am now spanned across 5 servers, playing an active role in over 2 channels each. Also running one channel and co-owning a second. IRC is generally used for connectivity based on your interests, by joining certain channels such as #420 or #Electronics, you can really begin to find just the company you want to keep. Approaching a channel for the first time can be a bit intimidating. When you first join, the best method to break the ice is literally just saying "Hello Everyone!" or some sort of an energetic greeting. If you would like an easy going room to join and get used to chatting you can find me and my friends at two different servers, under the same channel. The larger channel is #Purgatory on irc.rizon.net . If you need assistance with setting anything up, the people in the channel are very helpful. The second channel which has just been put into effect is on irc.darkvoltage.net and listed under #Purgatory as well. Both servers I am under the name PANIC and you can feel free to message at any time regarding any questions or server commands to enhance your experience further. Current User Count for Dark Voltage is 5 Users Current User Count for Rizon is 50 Users on average. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- phyzome · 2015-07-25 16:55 > Approaching a channel for the first time can be a bit intimidating. When you first join, the best method to break the ice is literally just saying "Hello Everyone!" or some sort of an energetic greeting. That's fine for some social rooms, but for topic rooms, best to just lurk for a while to gain a sense for how people interact. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- wmcscrooge · 2015-07-25 19:10 i dunno actualy. even in topic rooms, sometimes it's so quiet i don't mind people saying hi. i'm not advocating chatting up a storm about nothing, but a simple hey, how's it going is fine by me ---------------------------------------------------------------------- arwilson2010 · 2015-07-25 19:40 Agreed on this fact as well as with wmcsrooge , IRC was sadly a dying breed, but fortunately it is coming back with the death of MSN Live Messenger etc. Honestly it's hard to get people to chat in a channel that is specifically set. That's why I make random bs channel which is also an affiliate to a internet radio station. Lurking is definitely a good option just to better acquaint yourself with the best way to interact. Good advice Phyzome and wmcsrooge ---------------------------------------------------------------------- spling44 · 2015-07-25 22:17 IRC is not necessarily something you need to be very active with. I am in 50 channels over 5 networks, and I am probably only regularly active in 10 of them. Some more than others, but the point is that idling is a very normal thing in IRC and some channels I will sit in for days between actual conversation happens in them. Some channels are active all day and I never read it all. I use IRC for my gaming community, tying in with programming projects, and for finding and giving help where I can. I sometimes ask questions in ##physics on freenode, or I help people in ##mirc. Most of my activity is on my own network. I think the key to joining a new channel is to make a good first impression. A lot of channels can be hostile if you act like a jackass or expect a response within 10 seconds of joining. If you're joining somewhere to ask a question then just ask the question, or if you're just trying to be social then just say hello. I wouldn't overthink it. Oh yeah and read the topic when you join a channel. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bigbarba · 2015-07-26 07:55 This. Sometimes I've entered technical channels to find some help, but even if there was a long list of users logged in nobody was writing anything. I couldn't get any kind of response to my questions. Is there a commonly agreed etiquet for situations like this (i mean technical channels)? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- phyzome · 2015-07-26 12:16 Well, the best approach is to simply ask your question with no preamble like "does anyone know X?" (which simply wastes space -- no one will answer "yes" because that might imply they have time to help with *all* X-related questions.) If the channel's dead, maybe ask again a different time of day. A lot of the lurkers in the small channels are likely to be other people seeking help. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DStoo · 2015-07-29 16:28 I'm in 5-10 IRC channels. I'll rotate between them. Sometimes leave some up in the background as 'noise' when I'm working. I use it as live chat. I will usually join and lurk for a week or two to get a feel for the channel. Just read what is going on, how people interact, how people talk, see if it's a fit for me. Then I'll just start talking.