I found the way Twitter works very similar to IRC. #hashtags, DM's and @references are all from IRC. Twitter made a system like this easier to use, and centra

I found the way Twitter works very similar to IRC. #hashtags, DM's and @references are all from IRC. Twitter made a system like this easier to use, and centralized it one big system rather than loosely connected chat networks. In a similar manner Facebook replaced email with a centralized system which again is easier for users but has the same gatekeeper issues.