Also called "Chat Programs". These applications are installed on a PC by a user, and allow immediate "chats" between other users of the program. Some of these programs also allow audio or video conferencing as well as the ability to execute file transfers.
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"IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a virtual meeting place where people from all over the world can meet and talk; you'll find the whole diversity of human interests, ideas, and issues here, and you'll be able to participate in group discussions on one of the many thousands of IRC channels, on hundreds of IRC networks, or just talk in private to family or friends, wherever they are in the world."
