I'm not a huge chat fan either. If I feel like chatting I go on IRC but that's not very often. I don't like the idea of blockchain chat where every line is embedded in the blockchain for ever and ever either. Chat can be useful, it can be fun occasionally, but if every line of chat was stored on the blockchain, I don't think I'd like that as a function of steemit.
I 've been on several IRCs for a while, so I see what you mean about storing every line of !!HUGGZ!! interplay.
G*d, that would certainly bog down the chain