Editing IRC (section)

===Modern IRC===
IRC has changed much over its life on the Internet. New server software has added a multitude of new features.
* [[IRC services|Services]]: Network-operated bots to facilitate registration of nicknames and channels, sending messages for offline users and network operator functions.
* Extra modes: While the original IRC system used a set of standard user and channel modes, new servers add many new modes for features such as removing color codes from text,<ref>{{cite web|title=Channel Modes|url=https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Channel_modes|website=UnrealIRCd documentation wiki|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref> or obscuring a user's hostmask ("cloaking") to protect from [[denial-of-service attack]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cloaking|url=https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Cloaking|website=UnrealIRCd documentation wiki|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref>
* Proxy detection: Most modern servers support detection of users attempting to connect through an insecure (misconfigured or exploited) [[proxy server]], which can then be denied a connection. This proxy detection software is used by several networks, although that real time list of proxies is defunct since early 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irc-junkie.org/2006-05-07/blitzed-open-proxy-monitor-shuts-down/|title=Blitzed Open Proxy Monitor Shuts Down|quote=The Open Proxy Monitor which has been provided by the Blitzed IRC network has been shut down…The database was so large that it is near to impossible for the team to backup, or find a new location to continue the service. Added to that, most of the team members do not possess the time anymore to keep the service running.}}</ref>
* Additional commands: New commands can be such things as shorthand commands to issue commands to Services, to network-operator-only commands to manipulate a user's hostmask.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}
* [[Encryption]]: For the client-to-server leg of the connection [[Transport Layer Security|TLS]] might be used (messages cease to be secure once they are relayed to other users on standard connections, but it makes [[Man-in-the-middle attack|eavesdropping]] on or wiretapping an individual's IRC sessions difficult). For client-to-client communication, [[Secure Direct Client-to-Client|SDCC]] (Secure DCC) can be used.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}
* Connection protocol: IRC can be connected to via [[IPv4]], the old version of the [[Internet Protocol]], or by [[IPv6]], the current standard of the protocol.

{{As of|2016}}, a new standardization effort is under way under a working group called IRCv3, which focuses on more advanced client features such as instant notifications, better history support and improved security.<ref name="ircv3">{{cite web|title=IRCv3|url=http://ircv3.net/|publisher=IRCv3 Working Group|access-date=25 April 2016|date=2016|quote=The IRCv3 Working Group is a collection of IRC client and server software authors working to enhance, maintain and standardize the IRC protocol using backwards-compatible extensions.}}</ref> {{As of|2019}}, no major IRC networks have fully adopted the proposed standard.<ref name="ircv3usage">{{cite web|title= Networks - IRCv3|url=https://ircv3.net/support/networks.html|access-date=9 August 2019|date=2019}}</ref>

{{As of|2021|06|post=,}} there are 481 different IRC networks known to be operating,<ref name="networks">{{Cite web |title=IRC Networks - in alphabetical order |url=https://netsplit.de/networks/index.php.php |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=netsplit.de}}</ref> of which the open source [[Libera Chat]], founded in May 2021, has the most users, with 20,374 channels on 26 servers; between them, the top 100 IRC networks share over 100 thousand channels operating on about one thousand servers.<ref name="top 100">{{Cite web |title=IRC Networks - Top 100 |url=https://netsplit.de/networks/top100.php.php |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=netsplit.de}}</ref>

After its golden era during the 1990s and early 2000s (240,000 users on QuakeNet in 2004), IRC has seen a significant decline, losing around 60% of users between 2003 and 2012, with users moving to [[social media]] platforms such as [[Facebook]] or [[Twitter]],<ref name="pingdom">{{cite web|url=http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/04/24/irc-is-dead-long-live-irc/|title=IRC is dead, long live IRC|date=24 April 2012|website=Pingdom|access-date=25 April 2016|archive-date=15 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815064620/http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/04/24/irc-is-dead-long-live-irc/|url-status=dead}}</ref> but also to open platforms such as [[XMPP]] which was developed in 1999. Certain networks such as [[Freenode]] have not followed the overall trend and have more than quadrupled in size during the same period.<ref name="pingdom" /> However, Freenode, which in 2016 had around 90,000 users, has since declined to about 9,300 users.<ref>{{cite web|title=netsplit.de top 10|url=http://irc.netsplit.de/networks/top10.php|access-date=15 January 2021}}</ref>

The largest IRC networks have traditionally been grouped as the "Big Four"<ref name="the book of irc">{{cite book |last      = Charalabidis
 |first     = Alex
 |title     = The Book of IRC: The Ultimate Guide to Internet Relay Chat
 |url-access = registration
 |edition   = 1st
 |date      = 15 December 1999
|publisher = No Starch Press
 |location  = [[San Francisco, California]]
 |isbn      = 978-1-886411-29-6
 |page      = [https://archive.org/details/bookofirc00char/page/61 61]
 |chapter   = IRCing On The Macintosh: Ircle
 |quote     = On large networks such as the Big Four{{mdash}} EFnet, IRCnet, Undernet, and DALnet{{mdash}} trying to list the thousands of channels with Ircle always causes you to disconnect due to the flood of information, while other clients can usually manage the feat, if you are on a direct Ethernet connection.
 |url       = https://archive.org/details/bookofirc00char
}}</ref><ref name="encyclopedia of new media">{{cite book
| editor-last = Jones
| editor-first = Steve
| title       = Encyclopedia of New Media: An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology
| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofne00jone
| url-access = registration
| edition     = 1st
| date        = 10 December 2002
| publisher   = [[SAGE Publications]]
| location    = [[Thousand Oaks, California]]
| isbn        = 978-0-7619-2382-4
| page        = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofne00jone/page/257 257]
| chapter     = Internet Relay Chat
| quote       = Today there are hundreds of independent IRC networks, but the "Big Four" are EFNet, UnderNet, Dalnet, and IRCnet.
}}</ref><ref name="the imac book">{{cite book
| last        = Rittner
| first       = Don
| title       = The iMac Book
| edition     = 1st
| date        = 3 March 1999
| publisher   = Coriolis Group
| location    = [[Scottsdale, Arizona]]
| isbn        = 978-1-57610-429-3
| page        = 215
| quote       = There are several large networks: EFnet, UnderNET, DALnet, and IRCnet make up the Big Four.
}}</ref><ref name="information technology for management">{{cite book
| last1       = Turban
| first1      = Efraim
| last2       = Leidner
| first2      = Dorothy
| last3       = McLean
| first3      = Ephraim
| last4       = Wetherbe
| first4      = James
| title       = Information Technology for Management: Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy
| edition     = 5th
| date        = 7 February 2005
| publisher   = [[John Wiley & Sons]]
| location    = [[Hoboken, New Jersey]]
| isbn        = 978-0-471-70522-2
| pages       = 106&nbsp;– 107
| chapter     = Communication
| quote       = The largest networks have traditionally been grouped as the "Big Four": EFNet, IrcNet, QuakeNet, and UnderNet.
}}</ref>—a designation for networks that top the statistics. The Big Four networks change periodically, but due to the community nature of IRC there are a large number of other networks for users to choose from.

Historically the "Big Four" were:<ref name="the book of irc" /><ref name="encyclopedia of new media" /><ref name="the imac book" />
* [[EFnet]]
* [[IRCnet]]
* [[Undernet]]
* [[DALnet]]

IRC reached 6 million simultaneous users in 2001 and 10 million users in 2004–2005, dropping to around 350k in 2021.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

The top 100 IRC networks have around 230k users connected at peak hours.<ref name="netsplitde-top100">{{cite web |url=http://irc.netsplit.de/networks/top100.php |title=IRC Networks&nbsp;– Top 100 |website=irc.netsplit.de |publisher=netsplit.de |access-date=15 January 2021 }}</ref>