`/away "whats this hubub?"`
<looks up from IRC>
huh? oh. waiting for that to happen
`/away`
`/away "whats this hubub?"`
<looks up from IRC>
huh? oh. waiting for that to happen
`/away`
Don't discount a return to an old BBS style forum platform. NodeBB is one I've played around with. Discourse, myBB etc.
If you have a community already and don't need some of the newer bells and whistles, IRC is _still_ around. Come say hi at Libera.chat ##fediverse.lounge
Depends - on IRC, msgs are ephemeral, there's no retention unless you have a persistent client open to receive em. No file transfer, no voice. In some ways an IRC channel and a bulletin board for the persistant stuff are all you need.