An official real-time discussion channel is available to members and guests of the site, hosted on the Freenode IRC network in #lobsters. This channel was originally created by @kristof.

The policies and ideals of the discussion channel are the same as the website; quality content and conversing, respect for other users, and no spamming. Slightly off-topic discussion is generally acceptable. The channel isn't busy enough that there's always someone talking, so don't be surprised if you try to start a conversation and no one responds. Leave it open and you'll see activity, though we're most active during US work hours.

New contributors are always welcome on Lobsters, but pestering other members in the channel for invites is not acceptable. If you are the author or otherwise involved with a story that was submitted to the site, ask and someone will invite you. Alternately, offer some good links or thoughts on a story and someone will likely invite you so can post them.

Lurking in the channel is a bot called "mockturtle" created and maintained by @alynpost. It announces new stories submitted to the site and provides other useful features like showing the page title of other URLs mentioned in the channel.

To participate in the discussion, join the #lobsters channel on irc.freenode.net with an IRC client.

For a feed of stories without discussion, mockturtle also posts new stories in #lobsters-feed on the same network.