Is it a learning or just chatting

Hundreds of thousands of people round the world chat together and use CMC as tool of social networking (like Tanya and Megdalia). In chat rooms, they use thousands of phrases and words that might be new or used in a new sense to the other interlocutor, but this does that guarantee the internalization of these new items or their structure.
In some cases rapid development of the target language does happen and in other cases no significant development take place. I think that it is really difficult to judge chatting as effective or ineffective as a tool of language learning what determines the effectiveness of that tool in achieving a given goal is determined mainly by how effectively that tool is employed. For instance, chatting can guarantee a considerable improvement of the learner's spelling if the software has a spelling-check option, on the other hand, chat would be useless if the interlocutors are chatting in their native language using FL alphabet.
Many aspects contribute to the success of use chatting in foreign language learning (according to ME :) ). The emphasis that the interlocutors place on the accuracy of meaning is a key point to learning that focuses their attention on using the target language accurately and negotiate meaning, which, according to research, results in the internalization of new structures. Another aspect is the importance of the topic at hand. If the interlocutors are chatting about a serious topic they will tend to use accurate structures (full sentences and correct spelling) to avoid any misunderstanding.Also, if the interlocutors realized the potential of chat as a tool of language learning rather than a medium for social networking and developed some learning strategies that are consistent with chatting(like keeping a notebook of new words and structures the interlocutor used in the chat and practice using them in the chat), it will be an excellent virtual medium for target language practice.