For what it's worth, I've seen plenty of nasty blow-ups and gossip in #wheel. Not so much in the last couple of years (though #wheel has been much quieter), but before then... certainly. And bullying that the mods weren't able to do anything about because it wasn't captured in chat logs.
I'm...
Hear hear! (oh, that's ironic :look) But yes, I agree. Aside from the fact that I just don't like the idea, there's also the fact that a lot of people probably wouldn't understand my Aussie accent, and I might not understand their accents either. As it is, there are already one or two people...
I would add the criteria (though it might fall under "mobile-friendly") that the mobile app for the ideal option should be non-battery-sucking. From what I've seen, that's a fairly common complaint when it comes to IRC apps.
I think the concern with having both is that we would end up with fewer users in each one, which leads to less communication/discussion.
I would love to switch to something phone-compatible. There are some days when I just want to chat from my couch, not my desk.