Hello, Awesome_Possum. n__n
The Hangouts forum is a place for hangout threads; the hangout threads are generally more interest-based and long-term than the Babblesphere's threads, which are for short-term chat, sort of like chatrooms.
Both are great places to have random conversations with people. :3
Yeah, Hangouts and Babblespheres seem to be the places to be atm (:
They tend to talk about things non-Ernya, so it's pretty nice to escape that for awhile, haha.