Duncan
Does anybody else feel like italki has lost the community side that it had before? It seems a little ironic that it's changed to be more of a social media platform but lost that side of itself. I feel like before the change there were some interesting discussions about language and culture. The questions section led to some fascinating exchanges about syntax and idiom. It was often the same with notebook entries. Very few of the people that I follow post now (probably because it's difficult to type on a phone). Questions either seem to be ignored or get 1000 replies, which are often wrong. The whole site feels much more anonymous now. I didn't actually like the downvote option we had before, but now I find a lot of incorrect answers are up-voted, which is unhelpful to people. I wonder if it actually helped the community. I actually think that, perhaps, a lot of the issues could be fixed if a language exchange section was provided again. Every part of the site seems to be 80% language partner requests and I guess nobody can see much else through that background noise. I know that italki's main aim is to get people to take lessons, but it seems to me that having all of the other parts helped that. There are many sites that you can find tutors on, but not many that provide the other options alongside; cultural discussions, writing corrections, answers to language questions. The reasons you need to stay here and use italki as a tutor platform. I hope that some of the feedback is listened to. I for one don't feel as inclined to be here as much, writing and correcting, as I did before. From watching my following feed, I assume it is the case with others as well?
Sep 5, 2020 7:42 AM
Answers · 52
13
Hello Duncan. I completely agree with you. It's disappointing not to see those interesting discussions popping up on top of the screen. Before the change, I used to post some discussions here, but not anymore. There's 80% chance that I will soon leave this community for good, unless iTalki reconsider and do something about it.
September 5, 2020
12
Yes, italki ruined it this time. They deleted the language partner section and now language exchange requests are more than before and all over the place. Those who love Instagram are having a party right now! Some of them expressed their admiration for this new improved veggie soup so-called language learning "community" because it resembled their favorite Instagram features. I'm happy for them 🙄 Why would anyone turn something unique as the old community to another social media tool, that's just beyond me... I'm waiting for the desktop version that they said will be released soon and hoping this new nightmare would be easier to use at least. If only italki team members were involved in the old community, they would have another opinion and resisted such awful change but most of their italki accounts are just test accounts and that explains the "great" updates. There is only one of italki's old generation employees who is using the community and he was a beta Tester. I also agree that the downvot button wasn't completely bad and was needed sometimes to let posters know that some of the corrections or answers given to them are wrong! I miss writing my entries peacefully and interacting with my friends on the organized place we used to have 🍀 #italki_if_it_ain't_broke_don't_fix_it
September 5, 2020
11
Oh, I totally agree with you. I have just said exactly the same thing to my husband. Italki lost its appeal to me.
September 5, 2020
6
You made the long story short, thank you. But unfortunately, I feel no ear is listening here!!
September 5, 2020
4
That’s interesting! I came here because I have learned about the language exchange functionality, was looking for it for quite some time and thought there might be geo-specific offers. Are you aware of any other platforms that offer more of a community spirit and connect people for language exchange?
September 5, 2020
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