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Chatspeak is an issue in Italian too, as a lot of students use it in tests and exams too. I think you have to understand this sort of "evolution" in language (after learning the standard language), but you don't have to use it.
I usually use it when I'm writing text messages to keep them short and spend less money, like Wraith Lord said. But if you have the space and time, and writing more doesn't cost you more, I think it's better writing in standard language as a form of respect towards people who read what you write.
Besides, I find some abbreviations really useless, like numbers instead of letters, or, in Italian chatspeak, using the letter k even when you don't have to replace TWO letters, i.e. "ch", but just ONE letter, "c".

Some examples:

X = per ("for", or like esxto = esperto, "expert")
X = "ss" (belliximo = bellissimo, "beautiful")
KE = che ("what", or relative pronoun)
XKE or XK = perché ("why")
XO = però ("but")
+ = più ("more")
KI = chi ("who")
NN = non ("not")
TV(T)B = Ti Voglio (Tanto) Bene ("I like you (a lot)" / "I love you")
6 = sei ([you] "are")
C6 = ci sei ("are you there?")
SN = sono ( "am")
DV = dove ("where")

Younger people know surely more.

I'm usually the one who scolds friends using this kind of thing even in IMs. evil

chatspeak is okay when your chatting in IMs or texts to friends. but i agree with everyone else when people start replacing letters with numbers... whats the point of that exactly?? lol

and i think people using it in other languages is really hard to understand.

a lot of my cousins from south america use chatspeak when leaving me messages and what not and i have to read it a few times to understand what they say.

i think they should write in normal spanish considering i dont really know how to write/read it that well.

i have a chinese friend who i speak to in english online and even though i slip sometimes, i usually talk to him in proper grammar (except capitalization, punctuation, etc.)

i do that because i know he probably wont understand if i dont write like that. its just more considerate lol.

I've never come across foreign chatspeak.

I do sometimes use chat speak, but not much. It took me forever to figure out most of the english chat speak - for example like brb xD

Personally, I think it's unpolite to use it when you've actually got the time to write it out, like in PMs, comments, emails, forum posts, etc. and it will make you look like a noob. Most times I just ignore them when people speak to me like that. But for example in towns, I do sometimes use chat speak like 'u' for you or 'r' for are, because I'm such a slow typer and I wouldn't be able to follow the conversation if I took the time to type it out.

In German, there are also a lot of abbreviations, most of which I use when chatting with friends because German words are just soooo looong.... some examples:

iwie - irgendwie (somehow)
iwo - irgendwo (somewhere)
... the same for the other 'some-' words
hdl - hab dich lieb (love you)
hdgdl - hab dich ganz doll lieb (love you very much)
kA - keine Ahnung (no idea)
kP - kein Problem (no problem)

and of course all the english ones like lol, rofl, imao

What is your stance on 'chatspeak' in general?
I hate it. It's so much easier just to type out the word, especially if it is short. Also, it is hard to read if you are a non-speaker. (I have problems reading English chatspeak too, even though it is my native language.)

I don't have a problem with the ones that are like lol, or ttyl etc.

If someone uses it excessively, do you understand it all?
I can, if I really want to know what they are saying, which I usually don't. I usually have to read it out loud in order to understand it.

Do you think it's a good thing to understand and be able to type in?
Yes. Whether I like it or not, there will be and always will be people who use it. I may not type in it, but if I want to be able to understand everyone, it is necessary, unfortunately.

The only instance where I'll use chatspeak is to shorten text messages on my mobile phone, so I can say more without having to pay extra. Over the internet, I find it... acceptable in some situations - like when you're talking to people you already know - but overall annoying. (How hard is it to press an extra key?) As for l33t speak, which I consider different from chatspeak, it should just disappear into whatever dark, putrid abyss it spawned from.

Here are a few examples of chatspeak in Portuguese:
- "k": could mean "que" ("that", "what") or "com" ("with")
- "p": could mean "por" ("by") or "para" ("for")
- "pk": "porque" ("because") or "porquê" ("why")
- "d": "da", "do" or "de" ("of the")
- "x": used to replace the "sh" sound in a word (for instance, "estudante" -> "xtudante" or "chega" -> "xega")

I use it wen im texting my friends, but i d0nt' typ like dis 0n a reg bas1s And i dont replace letters with numbers, becuz that s**t looks stupid confused

I can understand most chatspeak in English and French. (Sometimes I understand the French better than the English XD) But it isn't fun to decipher what someone is trying to say. Excessive exclamation points (!!!!!!!11!!!1!!!ONE!!!!ELEVEN) also get on my nerves.

I think chatspeak is what kills languages all over the world. And you can't say it is just English, because people do it with French, German, Spanish, and all sorts of other languages.

I think it's /useful/ to know how to read chatspeak in some cases, because no matter where you go on the internet there will be people who use it. And if you want to understand people on here sometimes, it's a good idea to at least know how to read it, even if you don't use it yourself.

I personally think it sounds uneducated in /any/ language, but that doesn't stop people from using it frequently.

Culture? This isn't culture, almost every language does it. How is that culture, when it isn't indigenous to only one or two languages ? It's just a way to butcher languages when you don't want to type out all of the words.

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(just in case anyone has come across these, these are some of the chatspeak I've seen with French).

ke = que
ki = qui
kel = quelle/quel
porkwa = pourquoi
twa = toi (why even chatspeak this one, it's the same amount of letters... D: )
conné = connais (other "ais" ending words I suppose would be abbreviated the same).

Not to mention the omission of apostrophes and other punctuation.

k fé tu mtn?
je t vwa.

Eh, those are actually made up by me XD But you'd be surprised just what you'd see on the internet.

And just a note to foreign people/non-English-speakers, using chatspeak does not make you look like a native English speaker, nor does it make it seem like you have a grasp on the language. It just makes you seem uneducated, as it does with native English speakers who use it. You will be viewed with more respect and as a more fluent speaker of the language if you type and write properly [: