Duolingo: Difference between revisions
Definitely not one of the worst examples, but should be noted. |
Added Wikipedia link and copy editing |
||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Duolingo''' is a publicly owned American language learning website founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker.<ref>https://press.duolingo.com/#about</ref> On July 28, 2021, the company began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.<ref>https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-announces-pricing-initial-public-offering</ref> As of Q3 2024, the app has over 37 million daily active users and 8.6 million paid subscribers, with a net income of $23.4 million.<ref>https://investors.duolingo.com/financials</ref> | '''[[wikipedia:Duolingo|Duolingo]]''' is a publicly owned, American language-learning website founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker.<ref>https://press.duolingo.com/#about</ref> On July 28, 2021, the company began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.<ref>https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-announces-pricing-initial-public-offering</ref> As of Q3 2024, the app has over 37 million daily active users and 8.6 million paid subscribers, with a net income of $23.4 million.<ref>https://investors.duolingo.com/financials</ref> | ||
== | ==Paywalled content== | ||
===Incident=== | ===Incident=== | ||
On March 14, 2023, a new subscription service released called "Duolingo Max", that promised highly personalized language learning with ChatGPT-4 integration.<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/</ref> In September 2024, a new feature was added to the subscription that allowed users to interact with a character named Lily.<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/</ref> This subscription feature would show on the "learning path"<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/</ref> for all users, regardless of their subscription status. | On March 14, 2023, a new subscription service released called "Duolingo Max", that promised highly personalized language learning with [[ChatGPT]]-4 integration.<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/</ref> In September 2024, a new feature was added to the subscription that allowed users to interact with a character named Lily.<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/</ref> This subscription feature would show on the "learning path"<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/</ref> for all users, regardless of their subscription status. | ||
On September 3, 2024, users alleged they could not make a lesson have "legendary" status unless they paid for the "Duolingo Max" subscription to access the video call lessons.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/</ref> At the time, the subscription was $30 per month and to get a legendary status for a lesson, each attempt would be 100 gems for free users<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/comment/llbedvt/</ref> (not including Super Duolingo users)<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/super-duolingo-launch/</ref> | On September 3, 2024, users alleged they could not make a lesson have "legendary" status unless they paid for the "Duolingo Max" subscription to access the video-call lessons.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/</ref> At the time, the subscription was $30 per month and to get a legendary status for a lesson, each attempt would be 100 gems for free users<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/comment/llbedvt/</ref> (not including Super Duolingo users).<ref>https://blog.duolingo.com/super-duolingo-launch/</ref> Some users were able to fix the behavior, though the "go to legendary" button would still not bring users to a skipped or new level.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/comment/m6uspad/</ref> | ||
===Implications=== | ===Implications=== | ||
According to | According to Duolingo's mission statement, the goal of Duolingo is to make language learning "universally available"<ref>https://investors.duolingo.com/</ref>. It states, "We created Duolingo so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free."<ref>https://www.duolingo.com/info</ref> It goes on to say, "We believe true equality is when spending more can't buy you a better education." | ||
==Privacy Policy== | ==Privacy Policy== | ||
According to the privacy policy, if a Duolingo Max user utilizes | According to the privacy policy, if a Duolingo Max user utilizes artificial-intelligence (AI) features, a copy of their text or audio data will be shared with vendors such as [[OpenAI]].<ref>https://www.duolingo.com/privacy</ref> This is also similar for non-AI features, as Duolingo "may also collect and analyze your speech to help [it] understand the effectiveness of [its] lessons and to improve the product", though the data is anonymized. | ||
It is also mentioned that when completing a lesson, a video of a user's lesson "will be logged by a service called FullStory. | It is also mentioned that when completing a lesson, a video of a user's lesson "will be logged by a service called FullStory". This service records usage patterns, device specs, and learning activity, and is only disabled by default for child users. Opting out requires going to FullStory's website. | ||
The policy states the app works with third-party advertising networks to personalize advertising, such as with Google, Meta, OAuth, and Unity. Personalized advertising can be disabled in the app's settings. | The policy states the app works with third-party advertising networks to personalize advertising, such as with [[Google]], [[Meta]], [[OAuth]], and [[Unity]]. Personalized advertising can be disabled in the app's settings. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
[[Category:Companies]] | [[Category:Companies]] | ||