You can IRC with bad breath, or in coke-bottle glasses, or with a huge pimple and still be a sex goddess.

Virtual chocolate doesn't cost anything, and it has 0 calories.

You can get online at 4am to say "I'm feeling down" without scaring the crap out of anyone, or making them tired before work next day.

You can flirt outrageously and not worry about the guy following you home.

If you get bored, you can leave. No questions asked. No "one for the road." No "it'll only take a second."

You can almost always find someone who has never met or heard of your SO, so you can bitch about him in perfect privacy.

And, most importantly...

There is no /ignore in real life.

On IRC you can tell people you are fine and they'll believe you. You can pretend your bad mood isn't there, and no-one can see the frown on your face. And if you pretend hard enough, you can even come to believe it yourself

However isolated the place you live in is, you can be among friends instantly

You can get close to people without giving up your personal space

When someone on IRC tells you they like you, you know it's you they like. Not because of how you look, what you have, or what you can do for them, but because of who you are

No matter how obscure the question, someone on IRC will have the answer.

You can play your music as loud as you like and still hear the conversation

You can be a participant rather than a spectator

  • There are no accents on IRC. As long as people know English or can transliterate their other languages properly, you'll understand what they're saying.
  • There are no faces on IRC. Neither are there bodies, clothes, disabilities or physical imperfections. You are who you are, without the added noise of what you look like.
  • Just as much as people are not distracted from you personality by your appearance, you are not distracted from theirs for the same reason. You can lay your prejudices aside and get to know people for real.
  • IRC is incredibly intense. People talk all the time - that is the only thing they have to do. There are no distractions, no other stimuli, and nowhere to hide. Conversations tend to become extremely personal in no time, and the interaction and intimacy are faster and more powerful that IRL or even on Usenet or through email.
  • IRC is global. You can meet people from places you could never hope to visit.
  • IRC is the introvert's paradise. You can get intimate with people whose insecurities would take years for you to chip away at IRL, in a matter of days. If you yourself are shy, you can let go and relax on IRC as you can't anywhere else - for at the end of the day, who'll know?
  • IRC favours intelligent people who can express themselves in writing well and quickly. For me at least, that is the best social filter there is (sorry, I have an inconquerable bias against stupid people).
  • You can have several coherent conversations at the same time on IRC. To do that IRL you'd have to be Napoleon.
  • IRC attracts screwed up people. Especially in the middle of the night. So you're never alone...

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.