I have the same experience. I have several group of friends where most people are on IRC 24/7. It makes us even more close to each other to be together all the time like this, and it is just an addition (we do not meet in person less often because of that). I think an important thing to note is that the majority of these friends are not computer scientists, engineers or anything that have to do with computers, but they still learned to use irssi or weechat and screen to join our IRC server :).
I guess the point of my comment is to say that maybe IRC use has changed, but it still is an effective and active communication tool that many people rely on daily, among which some have only known IRC the way I described it: as a communication tool for group of friends (maybe a bit like social networks).
I guess the point of my comment is to say that maybe IRC use has changed, but it still is an effective and active communication tool that many people rely on daily, among which some have only known IRC the way I described it: as a communication tool for group of friends (maybe a bit like social networks).