I remember logging in to IRC from the University of Oregon where I was taking an Italian class. I saw there was an #italy channel and it was full of people who were actually in Italy, which I found kind of mind boggling. This was 1993, when 'long distance calls' were still a thing, and I was talking directly with people on the other side of the world for free.
I met a lot of cool people on IRC like antirez, and interacted with some random ones like the woman who is now the prime minister of Italy ( https://web.archive.org/web/20020105230808/http://www.geocit... )