Chat rooms have always been popular on the Internet, but not until recently have they become quite so popular with the general Internet public, previously frequented most often by "hard core" Internet users with a little too much time on their hands. Now, it seems everyone wants to take part in the online chatting experience. There are four major types of online chat that we will discuss: IRC Chat, one of the most popular forms of online chat, Web-based chat, chat rooms exclusive to commercial providers, such as AOL or Prodigy, and finally MUD chat rooms, which are somewhat less popular now than they were a couple years ago.
Internet Relay Chat
One of the most popular forms of online chat, Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, was developed in 1988 as a replacement for the old Unix program, talk (you don't need to worry about this). After being used extensively in the Gulf War of 1991 as a way to quickly disperse real-time information to many users at once, IRC is now used by thousands of people every day as a virtual meeting place in which to discuss various issues of the day. Users enter specific channels in which a specific subject or theme is usually predominant. Channels can be either public, where anybody on the Internet can join, or private, in which two people can carry on a private conversation. For more extensive information on the usage of IRC chat, feel free to refer to the Internet Relay Chat Help Site at irchelp.org.
In order to use IRC, you must have an IRC client (software). Popular IRC clients are mIRC for Windows and IRCle for Mac users. Once you have downloaded and installed this software, you will need to be able to provide the following information: your IRC server, your e-mail address, your name, and your nick name, or nick.
IRC Servers
In order to use IRC, you will have to tell your IRC client which IRC server to connect to. There are plenty of servers across the world, all connected to form one large IRC network. It is usually a good idea to choose the server geographically closest to you. This should provide for a good and fast connection, with minimal lag time (delays). IRC servers are individually operated by IRC operators (or ops, for short). In some cases, you may be denied access to an IRC server based on the decision of an IRC operator to deny access either to you personally (usually unlikely), or perhaps your domain (in which case you can really do nothing about it). If this happens, simply try another IRC server.
Nicknames
While using IRC, you will be referred to not by your real name or by your e-mail address. Instead, you will be known throughout the IRC network by a one-word IRC nickname, such as "coolguy" or "smartgal," for example. Although you can essentially choose any nickname that you want, it is usually not a good idea to pick a nickname which is likely to be already used, such as "john" or "mike," which are both very common names. Some IRC clients will ask for you to provide two nicknames, one being a backup in the case that your first choice is already being used.
IRC Channels
In order to provide some form of organization within the IRC network, many channels exist, in which a particular subject or theme is usually predominant. Channels are operated by channel operators, or channel ops for short. Channel ops have the final word on all matters within the channel: who can enter the channel, who can talk, and so on. A channel can either be private, in which only specified users can join and the conversation is kept private from the rest of the IRC community, or public, in which anybody can join the channel (unless specifically banned by the channel op) and take part in the discussion. Names are given to channels that usually represent their topic of discussion or purpose. Within the IRC network, all channel names begin with the pound symbol (#). Examples of some channel names are #newbies and #hamradio.
Web-based Chat
There are many Internet chat rooms that exist right on the World Wide Web, run by various organizations and web sites. Web-based chat rooms sometimes offer real-time updates of chat activity, while others require that you reload the screen periodically to keep up with the discussion. Posting is usually entered through standard submission forms within your Web browser. For links to some of the Web-based chat rooms available on the Internet, check out a fairly comprehensive list maintained by Yahoo!.
Provider-Exclusive Chat
Some commercial on-line providers, such as American Online, give users access to various chat rooms exclusive to that on-line service. In other words, these rooms are not available to everyone on the Internet. Rather, they can only be accessed by members of that specific on-line service. For more information on any such chat opportunities, please contact your own commercial on-line provider for details.
MUD Chat
Although being somewhat replaced by IRC, Multi-user Dungeons, or MUD's, still constitute a major portion of on-line chat usage. MUD's are actually quite similar to IRC, in that real-time chatting capabilites are provided, but MUD's are usually accessed by telnetting to a remote Internet site and logging in with a special nickname, which sometimes is assigned a permanent password. MUD's are most frequently used these days as homes to real-time games, which are usually somewhat like role-playing games. For some of the MUD's available on the Internet, feel free to visit a fairly comprehensive list maintained by Yahoo!.