Chat is not asynchronous communication. It's not the best synchronous communication, sure, but it's certainly not asynchronous. Dropping typing indicators isn't necessarily going to make everything more asynchronous. There are business patterns and pressures that push us to need realtime or semi-realtime answers. And so often, the tool we use for that is chat. True asynchronous communication is a change in business, not just the tools we use.
Typing indicators can be useful in some situations. It's nice not having to wait for someone to finish a thought to know that an issue is being addressed. Heavyweights can jump into a conversation and pause it immediately so people aren't spinning their wheels trying to figure out something they really don't know much about.
It's also useful in 1:1 chats to know if the person on the other side is there or not. If I don't see an indicator (or read-receipt) in the next few seconds, I'll go make another cup of coffee.
Typing indicators can be useful in some situations. It's nice not having to wait for someone to finish a thought to know that an issue is being addressed. Heavyweights can jump into a conversation and pause it immediately so people aren't spinning their wheels trying to figure out something they really don't know much about.
It's also useful in 1:1 chats to know if the person on the other side is there or not. If I don't see an indicator (or read-receipt) in the next few seconds, I'll go make another cup of coffee.