TypeError: Can't convert 'bytes' object to str implicitly

irc.send("USER " + nick.encode() + " " + nick.encode() + " " + nick.encode() + " : Testn")

import sys
import socket

server = "chat.freenode.net"
channel = "#randomchannel123456789"
port = 7070

print("IRC Connecter")
print("-----------------------------")
nick = input("Input Nickname: ")

irc = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
print("connecting to " + server)

irc.connect((server, port))
print("connected")

irc.send("USER " + nick.encode() + " " + nick.encode() + " " + nick.encode() + " : Testn")
print("sent user")

irc.send ("NICK " + nick + "n")
print("sent nick")

while 1:
   text = irc.recv(2040)
   print(text)

   if text.find("PING") != -1:
      irc.send("PONG " + text.split() [1] + "rn")