[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia and IRC

[Delirium]

Phoenix wiki wrote:
> I've noticed that a lot of wikipedia users don't like irc. I was wondering
> why. Is it just because it's not as transparent?
>   
My problem is that the time commitment is less flexible. With IRC, you 
have to sit around and in real time wait for people to say things, and 
respond. With mailing lists or talk pages, I can hop on for a few 
minutes, scan over what's been posted in the past few hours, and reply, 
and then go do something else again. I can queue up all my messages and 
read them on Saturday when I have more free time, or at 3am when I have 
more free time. With IRC I basically have to be there when other people 
are or it isn't particularly useful, and there's no meaningful way I can 
queue up things to respond to later. Etc.

It's useful for planned, focused meetings, if you can work around the 
timezone issues, though I more often use Jabber or AIM for those myself.

-Mark