Ever since Facebook bought over Instagram for $1 billion, there has been recurring talk of Path, another social service being the next big buyout target. While I am happy for the Path team, I find the comparisons with Instagram unfounded and premature. Let’s just start with the very basic of comparisons: Path has around 3 million members. Instagram had 30 million members and added nearly a million on the day it launched its Android app.
With dead-simple functionality and an elegant user interface, Path for Android and iPhone aims to bring social networking back to its roots, where “friends” are actually friends, and posts are actual moments worth sharing.
At a time when Facebook seems to keep adding apps, curating news feeds, and pushing users to connect with as many other users as possible, Path, the blossoming social-sharing app for iOS and Android, is doing just the opposite. It’s trying to keep things small and simple. While the idea of social networking on a smaller scale may seem strange, it makes a lot more sense once you get to know Path. With no brand pages, groups, event invitations, or Bejeweled requests to clutter its experience, this young social network is all about sharing personal moments with loved ones. That’s it. That’s why it limits the number of connections you can have to 150 (a number that Path believes is the average number of true friends a person has in life).
I remembered i came to know Path after reading an article from Mashable and a tweet by a friend, Amuyo Tomoko. I downloaded the app from my iTunes store and registered myself a Path account. At that point of time, I only had a few known friends using Path as screened through from my Facebook account. I decided to add some random strangers as friends to populate my friend list. Conversations started and friendships eventually blossomed.
One day, for some reasons, i had the thought of meeting these ‘friends’ in person instead of hiding myself behind my iPhone. Having these conversations seem ‘unreal’ and insufficient to build a long term friendship. The urge of finding more about my circle of friends and having a quality friendship had led me to explore this opportunity. I posted the question on Path and to my surprise, most of them were as curious as me too. So, we met for the first time on the 2nd June 2012 (read my previous blog post here…) and now we have scheduled to meet again this coming Saturday, 14th July.
(a small follow up gathering of Pathians at Starbucks Coffee, Damansara Jaya)
So far, we have 29 confirmed guests coming this Saturday. This came as a major surprise to me and other Path-ians as the previous gathering was a mere one month ago. It tells me one thing…that Path-ians, after all do have the same objective in nurturing their current friendship and perhaps bringing this to the next level. However, i must admit this is still exploratory and i guess other Pathians are cautious but open-minded at the same time. Well, it’s a good start and i hope all of them will have an answer as to why they use Path in the first place.
As for me, i have found my answer long time ago thanks to the constant engagement with my fellow Pathians. I have been communicating with them every day and night since then. I love sharing every single thought with my Pathians without having fear of comprising my privacy and took all the skeletons out of the closet. The secret to this is…i opened up my life since day one and as i told them in Path, i am totally NAKED and i feel privileged to be one.
Overall, it’s a pleasantly intuitive experience using Path. I’m looking forward to a meaningful gathering this Saturday and i’m sure the outcome can only be positive and rewarding. I will keep you posted in my next post. Ta Ta…
For more info about my experience with Path, read my post here…
