Internet slang acronym for 'In Real Life,' used to distinguish between online and offline experiences.
Acronym formed in early internet culture of the 1980s and 1990s as online communities needed to differentiate between virtual interactions and physical world experiences. Reflects the emerging digital divide between online personas and real-world identity.
The need for 'IRL' as a distinct concept reveals how the internet fundamentally changed human social interaction, creating parallel existences that required linguistic distinction. As digital and physical lives increasingly merge, the boundary IRL represents becomes more blurred and complex.
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