[MaxLeiter]

I may not be the common case, but I didn’t join IRC looking for a community. I primarily used it (and still do today) for help and collaboration — open source work and ##javascript /##math questions, usually. By being in the channels frequently enough you begin to figure out the community. Many channels also have off-topic variants for, well, off-topic discussion. Those will tend to be more like communities and not have hundreds or thousands of users.

In terms of why IRC specifically, I enjoy the simplicity of the protocol and the open-source nature of it’s ecosystem

[radarsat1]

Are the off-topic discussions more (or less?) engaging than the topical ones, for you? Just curious.

[MaxLeiter]

Some channels (right now I can specifically think of SourceHut's) refer to their off-topic channels as the watercooler, and I think that's an apt description. If the main channel is something you're interested in then you'll enjoy the off-topic too.