Thoughts on Path

I signed up for Path last year when they launched. It was an odd product at the time because you were limited to 10 friends on the social network. Intriguing, but it didn't really go anywhere. I posted a while but then drifted away.

Last month they relaunched with an updated app and a different approach to the sharing process. I have to say the new app is really great. It's clean, intuitive, and unique (at least until Facebook released their timeline). I would/could use this exclusively. I highly recommend giving the app a try; you won't be disappointed.

Up to this point, I've been using as a private journal and not adding friends (with very rare exceptions). I can write things that I wouldn't necessarily write on a public social network. Of course, at any time I can option to share out to Twitter, Facebook, or FourSquare. The photo tool has filters and actually create a Facebook album when pushed there (unlike my other favorite photo app Instagram).

So now I'm in a quandary. More people are discovering Path, which is great, but I've been hesitant to add people to my Path and I don't really need another social network to monitor. I've enjoyed the privacy with the option to share.

I am curious what the philosophy of the new Path is for the company. Obviously, they are not highlighting the small network of friends aspect, though it still feels that way to me.

I'm staying limited for now, but will remain open to expanding later. Are you using Path? How are you creating (or not) a network?

#miscjoy #iphone #path #networking

Google+: View post on Google+


Posted

in

by

Comments

6 responses to “Thoughts on Path”

  1. Sonia Rai Avatar

    I agree! Love the UI and it’s integration with all the other apps I use. 

  2. krisf Avatar
    krisf

    It really was an interesting interface, but I found that for me its main “features” ended up being the main reasons I disliked it. No web interface to add through, no single URL to see all my entries, limited number of people I could add, etc. I just didn’t need another profile, especially one with massive limitations (to me at least). 

    Then the news of Path uploading the entire address book to their servers broke. Something about this completely creeped me out. I have since emailed them and received confirmation that my account and all data is closed and deleted. 

    I am trying to simplify things this year so all things considered, closing the account was the best course of action for me.

  3. Kenley Neufeld Avatar

    Yes, that’s mainly why I’ve been using it as a personal journal. It’s great for that purpose and I can share out as I wish on occasion. What’s interesting about the address book issue is that it turns out to be pretty common across iPhone apps. Just read yesterday this will be handled differently in the future with the next iOS update. Path was just first to get “caught” – so to speak. 

  4. Kris Freedain Avatar

    Very true about the address book issue. I’d read that after closing the account. Hopeful Apple does resolve it in a future update to iOS. Either way it worked out for my goal of simplifying this year. Next networks to go are Gowalla and Foursquare. They are both fun, but I’ve found that they can be a distraction for me. Takes away from being present. 

  5. Kenley Neufeld Avatar

    I had signed off FourSquare for quite some time, but then got pulled back in to test a few things. Probably time to release again.