Chatting in any form is a waste of time unless you are promoting something. And then it is pretty much a waste of time too.
But sometimes you do shit for the fun of it I realize.
But at the end of the day chatting anon, without promoting, (which is 99.9% of it) is the biggest waste of time on the internet.
BUT, it is addictive as hell... And I really think folks get a little adrenalin rush. They get off on it you might say.
The psychological reasons are another thread.
Very few guys can sit, or want to sit, in the proverbial dark room alone. Esp now days.