Hi!

I just got back from a long break, 6+ years since I even touched a manga and I'm a little lost. What happened to the scanlation scene?
#Lurk is gone?
None of the scanlation groups I was a part of back then remains (not too surprised tho) and the active groups seems to have left IRC?

Figured a good place to get back into it would be to offer myself as a proofreader and set up an IRC distro bot but those don't seem to be in demand anymore.

So where do the scanlation groups hangout nowadays? Their own communities? What about release distribution?

I didn't pay too much attention to the scanlation groups and the scene itself up until last few years, so I can't explain how things developed, and even now I'm not that involved. I'll try to answer your questions, but I may be wrong about some things.

From what I have seen, IRC is just not as popular or widely used as before. Not necessarily in the scanlation scene, rather in general. Some of the channels I used to frequent are dead or close to dead, mostly because old time members tend to move on and newbies think that it's some scary beast or something. I don't get it myself, but I've seen it on numerous occasions that newer/younger users are very reluctant to adopt IRC as a communication method.
Although, everything I've said in this paragraph might just be my impression and not represent the wider picture.

Scanlation groups hangout at Batoto, sometimes Reddit (mostly r/manga), some scanlators are still active here at MangaUpdates. Perhaps MAL, though I don't use it so can't say for sure. Decent amount of scanlation activity comes from users at several 4chan boards. Of course many do have their own websites/forums, and older or more experienced groups do utilize IRC.

As for distribution, it's all about online readers. Most groups upload their releases directly to Batoto, either as a sole source or in addition to direct download links at their website (archive itself would usually be served from some file hosting service). If the group has IRC channel and is active in it, then you can usually get their releases over there too, sometimes it's used instead of direct download links. It's also fairly common for groups to provide an option of reading their releases online at their own websites, or they just link to Batoto instead.

Hey there! I joined the scanlation scene last year and started my own group, Quantum Revival Scans. At QR Scans, I'm the leader, but I also clean and typeset. I have been very averse to IRC because I don't want to pay money for it, I've never used it before, and everything I've read about how to use it either doesn't make sense or sounds like a pain to learn/do. I have a feeling many of the other newer scanlators feel the same way. I upload our group's releases to Batoto and provide links to download (Dropbox and Mediafire) and link to the Batoto page on my group's website.

My understanding is that the scanlation groups hang out at Batoto, here, IRCs, Discord, Skype, and on their own websites. People access new releases by either going to aggregate websites (MangaFox, etc.), Batoto, their scanlation group's website, or reading on mobile apps that aggregate from the big aggregate websites and Batoto, which is what I have been doing and what eventually led to me forming my own group and learning more about the community. Some of the bigger groups post discussion threads for new chapter releases for the more popular titles on Reddit's r/manga subreddit.

Personally I just read all the manga I like, take a look at the credits page, see if the group is into the same genre I like, and then I just ask to join (however their application system works). Or some groups will post on here and stuff. I've never used IRC.

Yeah, definitely Batoto or DDL for releases.

Wow, what a coincidence. I also didn't really follow the scanlation scene, but exactly one year ago, because of this post => https://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=52151
I have become addicted to reading Novel and mostly recently I read novel instead of manga.
And Im visiting http://www.novelupdates.com/ more frequent.
Sorry I can't help on the scanlation scene situation update.

Thank you for all the replies.
I will definitely check out Batoto

Scanlations were in their heyday over a decade ago. I used to love the scanlation scene and used irc frequently to get releases. #lurk was a goldmine.

The experience was thrilling, fresh and fun. Maybe not easily accesible but if you did get into it it shows you really were a manga lover.

Nowadays it seems the scene has faded somewhat. Irc has fallen out of favour and online reading took over. The culture is inherently different and readers take things for granted. There is also far less indepth discussion of manga.

Simply put, the times are changing.

Just hope that there is still enough support for sites like mangaupdates.

This is my premier site for manga. I would hate to see it gone.

This is exactly what happened to me... Just tried to return back to the scene. Why is #lurk gone? Where do you go instead these days?