Welcome!
We have had discussions around this sort of subject before. I, for one, love to send and receive emails from the friends I have made here.....yeah, I know, I know...mostly I receive and they send (love them!). But I really think that this is best done on a one to one basis. ( I also am a fan of instant messenger!)
This is a fantastic site and all members are wonderful, supportive, caring and knowledgeable people.Many are younger people who do not always have adult supervision. It would be tragic to invite all and sundry into our midst by opening an instant chat room. If we could confine it to genuine people who have a genuine interest in the topics then wooohooo! Sadly we can't and I think it would be a step in the wrong direction for a superb and caring community of people to lose control of the content and membership of the site. While it sounds like a good idea in principle, please, please let us learn by others mistakes and keep this very special place as safe and as fun as ever.