it's a phenomenon here, every body says that he wants a language partner to improve his language , but when it comes to the action .... they act like : I was kidding :) :) :)
There are 2 kinds of people.
Those who whine about not being able to find a partner here, and those who just move on. Please don't be the first kind.
A couple of points to raise.
I think people just see a language in a potential partner's profile, and immediately send a request to be a language partner. This is a setup for disappointment. Read the person's bio and introduction, plus take a look at their activities. An active user is more likely to engage with you.
Everyone has different levels of enthusiasm and commitment. You need to find someone that matches yours. I know this is easier said than done.
Make it clear to the person what type of platform you wish to communicate on. A lot of people are reluctant to Skype for whatever reason. Offering to talk on Whatsapp or Wechat can build rapport until you feel safe to converse via video chat.
If you send messages like "Hi", "Hi, how are you?", "Hi, can we be language partners?" you're not likely to get many replies.
Also, if you message people without looking at the language level lines (bars?) or paying attention at the languages they are learning, you will most likely be ignored.
I have the impression that many people sort users by language or country (or gender) and they start messaging everybody without taking the trouble to filter.
Honestly, I think some people here are just looking for flirting or chatting with someone of the opposite gender. I have seen many girls on here with a profile saying they are looking for a native English speaker to talk to and I have messaged them saying I'd be happy to talk to them in English but then I don't hear back from any of them. I've seen the same thing on other language exchange sites as well, where women are only willing to talk to men and vice versa.
About Italki. Here I become the messagers only from men, like "Hi, how are you". It's not seriously, if you don't write, what you want. And others messagers like "I want to practice English with you". It's not seriously too, because they haven't seen my profile. And I'm not interested in flirting.
On this website I have send messages to nobody, but on others "language exchange" sites I send messages by myself, and I had many partners. and I must to say, that the important thing is the pleasure conversation with the results in language. It is very diffucult to find such person.
