General Interest Chat Rooms - Something for everyone!

Plenty of choices for varying age groups and interests

Pogo ***Choose your game, then choose your age group (by decades) tab. Both censored and uncensored chats are offered in most games. Most games are played against Pogo, not other individuals. This may be an excellent alternative for those not willing to subscribe to MSN. ***Registration is required, but if you uncheck options, you can be spamfree!  ClubPogo is also now available, about $30/year, providing adfree games, double jackpots, exclusive rooms, private chat and more!

MSN ***Rooms: Try one of Peer category chats for your age, or one of the many chatrooms set up for various interests.  Most MSN created chat rooms are censored. All the features you want in typed chat.

Excite Chat ***Rooms: Go to one of the rooms in your age group offered in the "Peers" section, or check out some of other categories - there are a number of them! Excite created rooms have set maximum capacity. Expect pop-up ads

iVillage
***The site is aimed at women, although many of their chats are of general interest.

TalkCity
***A relatively popular site, with a number of age and specialty topic chat rooms to choose from.
***Their free membership form automatically subscribes you to ads, etc (which is why I didn't join - I get enough spam as it is!)

Yahoo!Chat
Yahoo Chat offers so many features (including voice chat) that it's almost overkill. Lots of people, lots of features, a great quantity of rooms to choose from.... and never did I feel welcomed or comfortable there.  Try it out, though - maybe you'll like it. Expect pop-up & pop-under ads.

Lycos Chat
Free membership required, which was no big deal - just uncheck all the promo email options. Not a lot of people there when I visited, but *very* friendly, easy to use, and has most of the basic chat options you need. If you just want chat, and are looking for msn alternatives, check this one out.  Expect pop-up & pop-under ads.

Just for the Younger Kids!
Note:  I haven't updated this section in a while - hopefully all alive & well

Teen Chat Center - Not reviewed.
***A number of room choices for age groups, including one that they say is "A Good chat for those ages 13-15. Heavily Moderated"

Kids's Chat at Kids.com - Not Reviewed
Chat live with kids from all over the globe! The Chat is open from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Central time, U.S.) everyday. KidsCom staff members monitor the chat.

Yabber - Sponsored by YTV
***Restricted to kids ages 8-14 in Canada only
***Advanced parental permission required for (free) membership

Chatway -
***Chatway offers a chatroom for preteens. They do not require any personal information to join, and the room does not appear to be monitored. For safety, an adult should supervise a child participating in this chat.