Humans are funny creatures. We do a lot of things thinking it's "for a good cause" or "because I want to achieve x". But often the driving force behind what we do is to connect with other humans.
Not a criticism. Just a fact. We are social animals. There are things we're driven to do because they inspire us. But most of them have an overlap with connecting with other humans. Not everyone overlaps in the same place, of course.
I run for health and fitness. I do not like to run with other people, as a rule.
I study Irish for my personal pleasure. And I will continue to do so long after Duo, years down the road, is bought out by the Chinese and has turned into a a Mandarin chat app. But as the 22nd gets closer, I've become more aware my streak specifically will become almost meaningless to me personally if I can't share it, and the commitment to learning it implies.
It doesn't help, the very act of using Duo fills me with sadness now and that's not the best state of mind to study anything. And so I am considering letting it all go. Keep mu accounts for practice when the feeling hits, but no more investment in streaks.
It's should be a simple decision but there are consequences: once a streak goes, you no longer get that sweet lingot dump of 20+ that streak maintenance has gifted you with. But it won't matter if you're not using it anyway.
Now before I would have told you," Oh my streak is a way for me to keep myself honest about my practice etc."
And that's still true. But It was also true I had an objective metric that I could share to show I was serious about my studies. I suppose that's still true at Duome. But we have a real language forum now. I don't feel a need for the streak as much as I did. I still haven't decided.
Over to youse.