As for me, I used text chatting quite a lot to communicate in kind of a safer atmosphere. I tried to avoid – perhaps much too long – speaking to native speakers. I always wanted to become more confident - whatever that might be – before talking with people of my target language. I might have become better at text chatting but not at speaking. However, any kind of language practice that has to do with your target language is better than doing nothing. So, if you want to become a better writer – take part in text chats with native speakers who really know their stuff. If you want to brush up your conversational skills and fluency, practice with as many as possible native speakers of your target language. By the way, I myself found reading interesting books and listening to the very same audio book quite helpful.