Personally, I don't think that being active in the chats will help you that much, if you're not a very active user. It's obviously a good way to get some extra exposure, as you will be able to communicate with people outside the articles, but if you only use the chats sporadic, I don't think it will yield much results.
That said, it's definitely worth a shot as it can help you to form relationships... But I personally would only rely on such approach if I was able to spend a lot of hours in the different chat rooms. Sporadic use wouldn't yield the same results as if I was using the chats for a few hours per day.