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This has a lot of info to get started with.

https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Started-with-IRC-%28Internet-Rel...

>if there are communities exist still in this 'modern' era

Sure, and they're useful. I have several channes open on my Thunderbird client: next to "Write", there's a button titled "Chat" that you can use. Python, Scala, Flask (pallets), all have communities which are very useful. You can ask or answer questions.

Not sure what you’re interested in. But efnet, freenode & quakenet has been the major networks over time. Some channels may require registration though. You can start with a client like mirc, textual or irssi.

yes, communities still exist, there are reddit servers for reddit communities (snoonet), freenode for open source projects and some old ones still ...

Ask HN: Beginner Guide to IRC?