I propose a new law of computing: any IRC channel that includes a matrix bridge will tend towards all conversation becoming about the matrix bridge being broken
Have you seen the Stack Overflow Developer Survey results for 2023?
Of the 83,830 folks surveyed, Matrix is the #1 chat tool in terms of current users' satisfaction. It's also rated as the most desirable among the open source tools listed, but there is a lot of room for improvement in awareness there.