The other problem with IRC is that it's not very user friendly: there are many different networks, which implement different rules. Your IP may be banned for some reason. People can steal your nickname, etc.
While this is totally fine for internet-savvy people, I can see why regular people who just want to chat turn to alternatives.
My cousins, who are not tech people at all, moved to Ecuador in the 90's and apparently everyone there used mIRC over AOL. It seemed to be the default messaging platform for most people in their country at the time.
While this is totally fine for internet-savvy people, I can see why regular people who just want to chat turn to alternatives.