I've been on xat since late late 2008 or early early 2009, my memory is fuzzy as to the date but anyways. xat makes me feel incredibly nostalgic, which isn't always a great way to feel. For the most part I don't leave my chat and it's more or less a gathering place for a severely small circle of friends and/or acquaintances who also happen to share that feeling of nostalgia. I'm convinced that it's the only reason we're still around. Discord would be infinitely more viable seeing as we all have pretty different schedules, but something about xat still sticks out to me at least. There's a great deal of customization and freedom that comes with it which I believe makes/made xat top dog when it came to social media chat boxes. My favorite thing about xat however is that it doesn't require permission/invitation to join or visit other chats. Sure, some chats might opt out of the public scene but that's only a bonus for personal choice. Most chats you have free range to visit, via the Featured, Popular, Supported tabs. You can walk straight out of one chat into another and meet new people and have new experiences, it's basically the MMO of chat boxes, that's pretty significant. As far as I'm aware, things like Discord you have to be invited or given a link. It's mandatory, there's no free movement. Free movement is what makes, or made xat work. Enough of that though, xat makes me feel relaxed at times and melancholy at others. It's a nice environment, my chat at least, but knowing that hay days are long over does bring about a lot of sadness in my mind. The website feels empty. Like an MMORPG that has lost 90% of it's population, it's impossible not to notice and it's mildly haunting.
Similar to how people associate certain cultural things with certain eras (the 60's hippies, 70's disco, and 80's hairbands for example) I associate xat with 2010-2013 VERY strongly. Anytime I think about xat, one of those years comes to mind and nothing else.
