You will likely receive greetings back from the other participants. You will also notice people using smileys and abbreviations in their messages. Follow the links to find out what these seemingly cryptic characters really mean. IRC Commands You can typically perform IRC functions either with the keyboard or the mouse. If you are actively participating in a conversation, it may be quicker to type commands than to pick up the mouse and click.
Different servers support different channels.
For an extended list of IRC servers, click here . There are a number of common abbreviations used by members of newsgroups and chat areas whenever the full message is just too long to type out. Many of the topics discussed in Chat rooms are not for everyone. Many of the channels are sexual in nature. As they say, if you find this material offensive, please stay away.