Do you have no idea what IRL means? Don’t worry — today, we’ll teach you what IRL means online, as well as in the real world!
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Kevin
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January 13, 2022
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Common Questions
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Here’s what IRL means, where it comes from, and how you can use it in your day-to-day life.
IRL is a fairly common acronym that people use on the internet, so knowing how to use it effectively is critical to making sure that you are up to date on common vernacular. Read on to find out everything you need to know about the phrase IRL.
What Does IRL Mean?
IRL stands for “In Real Life.” It is often used to describe the difference between people’s online and offline lives.
For example, when someone says that they want to “meet with you IRL,” it means that they want to physically come into contact with you, not meet you over the internet. The acronym IRL makes it easier to separate the virtual world from the real world and helps internet users quickly distinguish between the two.
This acronym is almost always spelled in all caps unless it’s in an informal context. While some internet abbreviations have become much more popular in lower case, IRL is still commonly typed out in full upper case.
The History of IRL
Like many other abbreviations, including TTYL, BRB, SMH, GLHF, and AOL, IRL became popularized through its use on the internet.
Many of these abbreviations were created because messages could only be up to 160 characters long in the early days of SMS phone texting. To save space, acronyms became a popular way to communicate. These abbreviations became more well-known in the late 1990s and continued to grow in popularity as time went on.
Since text-based communication has become increasingly popular online due to the rise of social media websites like Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, and Facebook, internet slang has started to use these abbreviations as a regular part of online communication. Especially in the early days of social networking, websites like MySpace, Yahoo, and Friendster were incredibly well known for their use of abbreviations.
As technology has advanced and become a more prominent part of social interaction, a need arose for a phrase that would easily distinguish between interactions in the physical world and people’s digital lives.
People who met and created relationships on online forums came up with this acronym to let the recipients know when they were talking about something happening in the physical world.
Alternative Meanings For IRL
While IRL is typically used to distinguish between people’s online and physical personas, it is also used in various memes. For example, if a meme seems embarrassing but relatable, people will often add the phrase “me IRL” to show that they relate with the meme, even if their internet persona doesn’t seem like they would.
It is also occasionally used to reference the Indy Racing League, a racing company based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
How IRL Is Used in the Modern World
IRL is commonly used within the context of dating apps. When people connect on a dating app, they will often text back and forth to see if they want to meet in person.
A large part of dating apps is pictures people post on their profiles. If the person on the dating app used a picture that didn’t represent themselves well, whoever goes out with them will probably think they look very different IRL.
Instagram pictures are also a common place where the difference between online personas and IRL realities is prominent. On Instagram, there are many filters that a person can use to alter their appearance.
While sometimes it’s fairly obvious, it can seem like a breaking of honesty in some contexts. For example, many filers alter the appearance of your nose, chin, or eyes compared to your IRL features.
Useful Conversation Examples
Here are a few basic examples of how IRL might be used in real conversations. This context will almost always be based on internet terms and relationships, simply due to the nature of its definition:
- She looked very different IRL compared to what she posted on her TikTok.
- Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number. Would you like to meet IRL at the local Arby’s sometime?
- I’ve gotten so used to watching concerts online, but going to them IRL is an experience I never want to give up.
- When I’m playing Raid: Shadow legend on my iPhone, I feel like an absolute legend, but IRL, I feel like the lexical definition of a potato.
- It was crazy — I was just grabbing a bite at the local Denny’s, and I walked right by my online celebrity crush IRL!
- Have you met your internet boyfriend IRL?
- When’s the last time you went to bed IRL and not in Minecraft?
- The other day when I was driving, I saw Michael Cera IRL.
- I can eat a lot less cheese IRL than I can in video games.
- Even if her Instagram profile makes it seem like she’s an edgy human being, she’s an absolute ray of sunshine IRL.
At the end of the day, there are many contexts in which IRL will be useful. A large part of internet communication is focused on making it easy to communicate with people. As long as your communication is clear and makes sense, there aren’t many limits on how you can use IRL.
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