Which chat protocol did Jarkko Oikarinen create in 1988?

Which chat protocol did Jarkko Oikarinen create in 1988? Internet Relay Chat, commonly abbreviated IRC. Oikarinen wrote the first IRC server and client programs at the University of Oulu in Finland in August 1988.

He developed IRC to replace MUT, a multiuser talk program on the Finnish bulletin-board system OuluBox. The system allowed people to communicate in channels and exchange messages in real time, creating a durable model for online group discussion. Oikarinen drew inspiration from the BITNET Relay chat system and continued developing IRC over the following years.

IRC is a protocol rather than one single commercial app. Users connected through separate IRC clients and servers, often joining named channels organized around technical projects, games, communities, or live events. That distinction helps separate IRC from later services such as AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, and XMPP-based chat systems. IRC’s channel-and-server design also influenced many later forms of online community communication.