LostServ: those are applications
FOR IRC, and not applications
OF IRC
To answer the question, from personal experience, I know of people who use IRC to:
[*] ... chat to other people and make new friends
[*] ... chat to "real life" friends
[*] ... find a new partner/spouse/significant other
[*] ... use internal (corporate) IRC networks to facilitate the flow of information within a company
[*] ... gain realtime information on actual events from people in the immediate area, without press/government censorship
[*] ... plan a holiday and get information from people living in destination countries
[*] ... exchange comments or ideas on particular "special interest" themes, from English teaching to theology to ... well, just about anything really
[*] ... run illegal DDoS networks, sometimes as an extension of corporate blackmail
[*] ... engage in illegal filesharing and intellectual property theft
[*] ... engage in commercial ventures and advertising (almost always in defiance of server terms of service)
This is just a selection... the list goes on and on!
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