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October 14, 2003
IRC - hmmm..
The past few days we have been using IRC to coordinate stuff we've been doing. "We" in this case means Orixo companies and other parties. Now, as I've written before, I'm not a fan of "chat" and the long IRC sessions we've been having have sort of strengthened my opinion.
IRC doesn't seem to me to be an ideal tool to discuss things. Basically a lot is lost because people often misunderstand what is being said and conversations start to become mixed up in different threads. Also - press the send button and whatever you wrote is visible to all. So if you're angry at something and write without pausing to reflect - then you may do damage you'll regret. I prefer email for exactly this reason.
If you're angry, write an email expressing all your anger. Then delete it and write another one. Send the second. Simple but effective. I first heard of the 2-email pattern from Stefano some while ago - and it's stuck
Another problem with IRC is that it takes place in real time (yeah well..) - meaning that you can basically not do anything else in parallel and find yourself glued to the chat. Thinking you're missing something.
So, if a discussion is well prepared in advance - then IRC is probably good for streamlined decision-making (crossing the Ts so to speak). But if you want to use it to actually work out a concept then perhaps something else like a Wiki would be better.
Posted by Matthew at October 14, 2003 06:58 PM