Chat is on for me, I don't mind. Mostly I communicate with the people at CC games and I love it! Usually, it's only positive vibes and it even helps my mindset. If someone ever starts bothering or being rude, there is always an ignore button.
In addition, chat can be a nice poker tell. When someone starts writing bullsh1t in chat or calling other guys fish/donkey/fool etc. I might be tagging him as a "fun player". It's just solid regs don't do such things, they usually have their emotions under control and are focused on the game.
But have to admit, that sometimes I turning off chat in favor of tournament statistics, as it's more important to see how many players left to bust till ITM.
Or for example, when I have a session of 7-9 tables at once, it's hardly possible to chat or even recognize everything being written. There is simply no time for that.