Bigger chat rooms can be confusing. The only "social" places I ever go online are here, Facebook, and one chat I pop in from time to time (that seems to have the least nastiness when the mods are around) and I pretty much just look for the couple people I know and talk to them.
Too few can cause issues as well though. I know of one chat room that claims to have thousands of members...but only about 15-18 people use the chat with any regularity...and one person pretty much took it over. This person sits in there day and night...I used to pop in, and it would be her just sitting there. She acts like she owns the place, even though she is one of the newest people there, calling other people who have been there longer "newbies," bossing the moderators around even though they're doing a good job, making room announcements, telling everyone "we're a family" when speaking of the members of the room, preaching her personal religious beliefs, acting as an "expert" on any topic someone brings up. I quit even checking in that room and I'm sure a few others did too, just because of her. And it's because the room is so small. If there were 50 or 60 people in there, she wouldn't be able to do it so completely.
I wasn't here when there was a chat before, so I'm not sure how full it gets at any one time.....