Update 2: I updated the links again, click to see where they will lead you.
When you join FriendFinder you may chat for free in the chat rooms. It's a great way to start discovering other members. They have many local chat rooms if you are looking to chat with members in your area. The atmosphere in the Friendfinder chat rooms is usually fun and relaxed.
Friendfinder is mainly a dating which means that most people you will find are looking for a date and even for hookups some times... But you'll also find out that some members are simply looking for friends. They joined the site and created a profile because it's called Friendfinder and they thought it might just be a friendly place to be. They had a look around and decided to stay on the site because you never know they might just meet someone or simply have fun looking around.

Friendfinder has millions of members you are very likely to find someone in your area or at least not to far away from you. The only word of caution would be to be sure that those people have updated profiles because if you look closely you will notice that profiles are kept on the site even after many years of never being updated. This will happen mainly for location where there aren't many members.
If you are a woman and want to catch the men's attention, put your picture so they can see you, better yet, put many pictures of yourself to spark more interest. It's easier for women than it is for men to get attention on any dating site but still you need to stand out if you want to attract the best possible matches.
If you are a man, you should expect to upgrade a membership if you are looking for a date, if you're only looking for a chat a basic membership will do. Take sometime to write a detailed profile because women tend to be cautious online, at least the clever ones. Don't be afraid to be the one to show interest first, women expect it but if she does not respond, don't insist, she's simply not interested. Before you jump and pay for that premium membership be sure to have spotted at least a dozen women you are interested in. Why a dozen because some may no longer log in to the site and some may not be interested. You need to put all the chances on your side so have as many people as possible that you are going to contact before you upgrade your membership.
Remember Friendfinder is not labeled as an Adult Dating Site which means you should not post naked or half-naked pictures of yourself on the site. Pictures are reviewed and filtered. Additionally you are expected to use a clean language when you are in the chat rooms because as I said before many people simply come to have a friendly chat, make some friends and have fun, they don't come in there searching for sex. Certainly some people also come to find a girlfriend or a spouse but even those people are not looking for a dirty chat.
If you find Friendfinder too nice for you and are looking to spiced up cam chat then you might want to try the chat rooms at passion instead. Passion is the 'adult' version of Friendfinder where photos, chats are uncensored. Learn more about the adult chat rooms at passion by reading this review.