I like the concept behind IRC as a protocol with a set of independent networks, clients.

You see, I'm not arguing what we have today is better. In many ways, it's worse, and I'm sick of proprietary HTML-based interfaces and this endless flood of pointless features and monetization attempts.

But there's the fact: a social platform lives or dies based on the "social" aspect of it. This is why Facebook is making the billions. Not because it's the best, but it has the most people.