NovaSquirrel, It'd be cool to see more people (or communities) try and make their own little hangouts online. Websockets make it really simple to have a basic chat app because they simplify everything down to the point where you can send and receive strings, and the client can just be a webpage.
Though I admit most people probably want features like a history, uploading images, or good handling for unreliable internet connections, and those aren't exactly trivial. I specifically wanted something where presence is meaningful and where everyone isn't just expected to be reachable all the time, myself.