Why do we participate in chat rooms? To chat, of course.
Whether it’s on IRC, Twitter, or some other chat engine, we participate in a chat to share content. Granted the content isn’t always useful or interesting…or intelligent, but it still gives everyone the same ability to participate in the conversation.
That being said, it seems extremely contradictory that some people will host a chat and block off anyone from asking questions to someone, or even letting others chat during the chat. I recently attempted to partake in such a Twitter chat, only to discover that only the chat moderator and the special guest could participate. This presents an issue.
Restrict conversation – Nobody likes to be told to shut up. If people wanted to watch you ask someone questions, they’d watch a video. If you’re using a chat room, you need others to participate and comment.
Loss of Ideas – If only one person is talking, it means that others can’t share their thoughts about the subject at hand. Granted the other person may be an expert at what they do, but they may also need to be clarified, or another person have a supporting argument. Of course, if questions need to be asked and only the moderator can ask it, that’s out the door.
Loss of overall participation – To put it bluntly, what’s the point of chatting when you can’t chat at all?
Just remember, what’s the point of having a chat when it’s blocked off? You may as well be talking to yourself…or to your guest, anyway.
On a side note, this is my first post using Ubuntu. 
