>>5

but it's also unencrypted

IRC over TLS is really common these days (as in, the last 14 years or so).

>>5

IRC on the other hand just sucks, not only does no one use it any more but it's also unencrypted.

Many communities still use IRC, but the real difference is not quantity, but in quality. Most Discord "servers" are just endless repetitions of people saying "Hi", "Hru?", and "Hbu?" without ever saying something akin to a real conversation, unlike on IRC, where you can actually find people, who talk to each other beyond just greetings and conversation starters. Of course this doesn't amount to every Discord "server" and every IRC channel, but it's true to a degree. Discord is to chatrooms, what 4chan is to imageboards: a place, where nothing of value is ever discussed, but a lot of noise happens, and people confuse this noise for social interaction, which then fuels their addictions to those places.

As to IRC not being encrypted, it's true that there is TLS implemented and sometimes even enforced, but this of course doesn't mean the whole chat can't be read by a third party. I think simplicity goes over security and IRC is a particularly good protocol, because it isn't secure, doesn't need to be and is very KISS. Security-obsessed people will always find ways to justify more nonsense, but as a matter of fact, you shouldn't use IRC for anything, where you don't want anybody to find out anyway. It's a public chat after all.