the number next to the word chat above in the toolbar means how many people are using the chat rooms at the moment/in the last few to 15 minutes.

chat is different than your inbox,

your inbox is where people send you pm's (private messages)

chat rooms are where people can get together and talk in "real time". its like talking to someone on your cell phone, the people are on line at that moment talking to each other.

here is the tutor threads that explains chat and pm's....

http://forums.psychcentral.com/tutor...sing-chat.html

http://forums.psychcentral.com/tutor...saging-pm.html