If you&#x27;re using a bouncer, it&#x27;s trivial to set it up to change your nickname when you&#x27;re not there. That clearly communicates that you&#x27;re not present, but that you will respond in time.<p>All the other points are kind of silly. You can say the exact same thing about email, or Slack&#x2F;Hipchat, or SMS.<p>&gt; <i>There are many reasons why one might consider this unfortunate—no opportunity to be truly away, frequent interruptions, an inflated sense of urgency, and a powerful sense of &quot;oh noes, I&#x27;m missing what&#x27;s happening on IRC!!!!&quot;</i>