I have the same problem, the text disappears from the ITALKI chat. They have recently changed it and it has caused problems to everyone, with a lot of people wanting the old system back.

Do you see the words Chat Online with a green dot at the bottom right hand side of your screen? If you do, you can chat, if you don't then there may be some problem with your computer.

the chat service here is still in beta ) it will sometimes cause you problems

we had a chat earlier. Maybe you were asking why its hard to find someone online. Well I guess they have set their chat options off. :P

lol.... me too :p