HeyMichelle posted this in another thread today in the Main Forum, and it made me very sad and disappointed:
Hi everyone,
We're sorry about this. I haven't used chat in a while, but I really enjoyed it back in the day :) I'm sad to see it go...
The reasoning is that not many people are using chat, and it uses a lot of resources.
The Virtual Labs are being replaced by Livestream, which is similar. You can see the Livestream area by scrolling down on this page: www.etsy.com/help/article/483#thecommunity
We will continue to host webcam events in Livestream, which works similarly to the VL (people can chat, a host is on the webcam). We will be making upgrades to make this even more useful. Although I will dearly miss my beloved VL, one nice thing is that we will be able to host events that allow many more people to attend.
We're sorry about chat going, but we hope everyone will be able to join us in Livestream!
They're keeping some version of the Virtual Labs, but they're getting rid of chat altogether. Chat has been a VERY LARGE part of my success here on Etsy, and I really wish they'd seriously reconsider. I've met many wonderful people in Etsy Chat.
