IRL is an abbreviation for "in real life". It is used to distinguish between reality and something that happens in games, on social media, or on TV. The term is often used in informal messaging, such as via DM or texting, to distinguish real life from online interactions or from fantasy or fiction. It is also used to note when people plan to do something outside of the virtual world of instant messages, social media, gaming, and TV. For example, while internet users may speak of having "met" someone that they have contacted via online chat or in an online gaming context, to say that they met someone "in real life" is to say that they encountered them at a physical location.