Talkcity is probably the safest these days. It's a thriving community of people. The rooms are properly monitored and much of the chat logged. Anything not quite right is reported and the person or room or whatever permanently removed.
I play domonoes and I have found a few good friends I talk to .It is like everything else you just have to be careful who you talk to and what you tell people.There are plenty other games you can play and talk then if you wish you can invite people to your yahoo messenger for instant messaging or msn.Hope this helps,Happy chatting.