Since its redesign, Path has gotten a lot of attention. Many would say that having created a ground-breaking piece of mobile UX this is deserved. I've had Path on my phone for a good while but not really used it. The redesign has tempted me back to play around with it, but it's not yet something I open up regularly, partly because I'm not sure what place it has in amongst all the stuff I use on a daily basis. That may change, but for now that's how it is.
One of the interesting things about it though, is that it was designed from the outset to be an intimate network. When it began, the number of people you could friend on it was capped at 50. They've since relaxed that limit to 150. But they're still clear about where that reasoning comes from:
"We are inspired by Professor Robin Dunbar from Oxford University, whose research delves deeply into the number of trusted relationships humans can maintain throughout life. We tend to have 5 best friends, 15 good friends, 50 close friends and family, and 150 total friends. At Path, we're building tools for you to share with the people who matter most in your life."
Whilst Facebook, they say, is primarily about sharing with all of your friends and acquaintances and Twitter is primarily about public sharing, Path is about creating "a safe, intimate, judgment-free space".
Much was made of this when it launched but if I'm honest, I didn't really get it. Since then though, I've been enjoying the relative intimacy of Instagram and Google+. That's not to say that more connections and more 'noisy' networks like Twitter are inherently a bad thing (although I do have my reservations about so-called frictionless sharing on Facebook), but perhaps it does suggest that there is definitely a need for places to go where there is more signal and a little less noise. Path may not be it (I'm still not using it after all) but the functionality on the big unrestricted networks isn't perfect either so who knows, maybe it will turn out that it is.
Path's problem is the 2005 Facebook problem--in order for this to have meaning, I need to get most of the 150 people who are closest to me, but who are also willing to walk this particular social path with me.
Path only has meaning among a group of active social users. Grandma Miller in Lubbock, Texas isn't going to join Path, and neither is cousin Skip in San Antonio.
It's unfortunate, because Path solves the big problem I have with Facebook. I have far too many old work friends and distant acquaintences on Facebook. With some folks it was a matter of politeness to agree to become Facebook friends. (old girlfriends raises a tricky issue for some of us.)
I buy the "safe space" of intimate friends and family. I just can't get them to use it.
Perhaps it's first best use will be among a group of like minded colleagues--planners or market researchers or graphic designers--who would grab hold of all kinds of stuff and ideas and toss them into this more intimate working group.
That loses the "5 best friends, 15 close friends, etc" that I fill my life with.
Like you, I'm not sure what path to follow here. Right now I have two friends on Path and they're both UX geeks. We don't trade much. It's easier to watch the Google+ circle.
Posted by: Rohn Jay Miller | January 10, 2012 at 10:21 PM