IRC's Growing Popularity in 2026

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 31, 2026,
updated Oct 31, 2026

For several consecutive weeks/months we've seen measurable increases

The number of IRC networks indexed by (or known to) netsplit.de has grown to 533. I think this is the highest it has been for years. It's not because netsplit.de (Andreas Gelhausen) rushed to add many small networks. Many that I know about are still not listed (perhaps they don't meet size thresholds). It seems like some tech-literate people come to appreciate 1) IRC and 2) the value of managing independent networks, not joining very large ones that engage in censorship.

From earlier this month:

1. Libera Chat is Corporate
2. Libera Chat Tolerates People Who Say “Gas the Jews” and Want to Stab Colleagues
3. When Will Libera Chat Ban GAFAM and GAFAM-Funded Projects?
4. libera.chat is an Agenda-Peddling Platform Run by Agenda-Peddling Individuals
5. Libera Chat's "Level of Control Might Make Sense for a Corporate Platform"
6. Tracker of Internet Relay Chat Networks Out of Service (But Not Down) Since Thursday
7. Self-Hosting Lessons From Libera Chat

We hope that IRC will experience some sort of renaissance without having to depend on some sort of "marketing campaign". No company controls or profits from IRC, it is in the Commons. █