I confess that I haven't been in the chat room for quite awhile but used to frequent it alot. From past experience, you'll run into the most people between 9-10 pm EST. Sometimes you simply have to hang around for a few minutes when you encounter it empty. People pop in all the time -- if they find no one home, they'll leave, but if someone is there, they'll usually stay and chat. Once others find two or more in the room, more people appear & stay. Sometimes it can get quite lively, with 8-9 of us in there and strings hard to follow, especially if there's alot of rapid-fire joking. Other times it can be slow.... just like real life!