I don't see what's wrong with comparing apples to oranges when they're both fruit. Both IRC and facebook are mediums that can be used to communicate with others over the internet.
I agree that protocols aren't necessarily made to evolve, however that is probably the reason most people have moved onto other services that have been updated in the last 10 years. There was a slight attempt at enhancing IRC, called IRCX, but it didn't really add anything that your average "chatter" would care about.
