Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog

My jerk friend Todd introduced me to Path (he also introduced me to Tumblr four years ago) and after nearly of month, it is my favorite social networking tool and the first one I got to when I want to post an update.

First of all, Path is only for your iPhone, Droid or iPad. You can’t login to a website from your laptop or desktop and update your status - everything is done through your handheld device. I have it installed on my Android phone and my iPad.

Secondly, the UI (user interface for you non-geeky types) is as slick and intuitive as they come. In fact, it’s so uncomplicated it will take some time to get used to just how simple it is.

The reason Path is the first app I open when I have something I want to share with my friends is because it’s so flexible and versatile, I can update Path, Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr and Twitter at one time. Any, all or none. Though, sharing through Tumblr only seems to work when I take a photo - comments, check-ins and other posts don’t provide a Tumblr option, though I’m sure that’s in the works.

The difference between Path and the others is that I have chosen to reserve my Path friends to only those people I have a personal connection with. For example, I am Path friends with my jerk friend Todd because we go back a few years and he was a groomsman in my wedding. I am NOT friends with the kid that sat next to me in high school trigonometry or with my old boss at the last place I worked. It’s a select group and that’s what I believe the creators of Path had in mind.

There are no “lists” to create. I don’t have to choose which group I want to share certain posts with. But, I can choose to share it with my Path friends and also with my Twitter and Facebook friends.

Another key benefit to using Path is the lack of oversharing and noise. Maybe it’s a little bit snobbish, but I find my Path friends to be a little more particular about what they post. It’s not always high-brow, but it’s interesting and relevant. I am truly interested in the posts on my timeline, which by the way, is the true definition of a timeline.

The difference, at least for me, between Path and other social networking platforms I’ve used (Facebook, Twitter and even *gasp* Tumblr) is like watching a TV show on Netflix sans commercials vs. watching it live with commercials.

Path is like watching your favorite show without interruptions. There’s no noise to interrupt you. You can simply enjoy your show without distractions. Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr are like watching a TV program live. Yes, you get to see your show, but you also have to sit through all the commercials and even worse, in an election year, political ads. Sure, every now and then you might see a commercial (post) you are interested in, but most of them just annoy you.

So far, I haven’t seen any animated gifs of cats with light sabers or any “All the Things” inspired images and I hope I never will. If I want to see those things, I’ll check out my Facebook news feed or Tumblr dashboard. And those things are fine sometimes, but I like my Path to be about my real friends doing real things.

Give Path a chance and if you think we have a personal connection, feel free to friend me, but please don’t be offended if I don’t accept. You can always friend me on Facebook.