Initial feedback from using Verbling for 30 mins: A feature of this site is the ability to instantly connect with a partner. However, there needs to be a way t

Initial feedback from using Verbling for 30 mins: A feature of this site is the ability to instantly connect with a partner. However, there needs to be a way to switch partners instantly. For example, I was speaking to someone who had video and microphone problems and the only way I could switch was to navigate back to the homepage and start again. I also didn't find the automatic matching, in its current form, an advantage over personal selection. For example, I only wanted to speak with girls around my age. Allowing the user to set criteria for partners (e.g. age, gender, region) would be useful, along with the ability to switch as desired. The second key feature of this site, compared to alternatives, is the use of video. However, I didn't find any benefits, e.g. in terms of usefulness for language learning or fun, from the use of video over just voice/text communication. Staring at the head of a stranger for the duration of the chat didn't add anything. Need to add some feature or features that make the use of video an advantage and relevant for language learning (this would also encourage people who want to engage in video chat to simply switch to skype once introduced). I didn't find the suggested topics feature very useful, as it isn't hard to come up with such topics on your own and simply going through suggested topics one by one with partner led to a conversation that felt awkward and jilted. An alternative idea: add some interactive role play puzzles that the users must solve by speaking the foreign language with the user. For example, you could shows a street map with a route shown to one user, and the same map with only the initial position to the other. The latter user must then ask the other user for directions to determine the correct route . Or a restaurant role play where one user is the waiter the other the customer, and the latter is told the dishes they must order, which they must communicate correctly to the waiter. This would lead to more realistic, two-way, conversations, be a lot more fun and be genuinely useful in generating conversation between two strangers. At the moment, it doesn't offer anything compelling over sharedtalk.com in terms of finding language exchange partners, nor does it offer any of the learning material for which I find Bussu useful. On the plus side, I did find the site easy to sign up for and use, and the call quality was good (call quality on sharedtalk is generally very poor, which is why, even in voice chat there, people almost always suggest moving to skype - hence sharedtalk acts more as an introductions agency).