Are you on Path?

I read a Path 2.0 review on GigaOm’s theAppleBlog this morning and installed the app on my iPhone.

So what is Path? According to Colleen Taylor writing about the app’s launch for GigaOm:

Path 2 aims to be a “smart journal” that catalogs all the big and small moments of your daily life. Along with your photos and videos, the new app has features that let you keep track of your thoughts, the music you’re listening to, where you are, who you’re with, and even when you wake and when you sleep. You can choose to keep each update entirely to yourself, share it with your Path contacts (limited to 150 based on Dunbar’s number), or share it publicly via Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare (Tumblr support is on the way.)

I have heard of Path before and it didn’t really appeal to me but I thought I’d give it a try. I set up a Path pretty quickly on my phone and connected to the couple people I would include as friends for the purposes of personal sharing. I stopped there and wondered whether this sort of app would have value for me when I have Facebook available to me for more personal sharing and this blog for general sharing (not to mention Twitter, Google+, Flickr, Vimeo and more).

I suppose the point is that Path gives you the ability to publish a content stream to friends and family (you are limited to 150 people so you are encouraged to make your friends list a meaningful list) in a convenient mobile app. That is pretty much what I do on Facebook and Facebook isn’t limited to iOS and Android like Path is. It is also not another social network for my mom and wife to join and use in tandem with Facebook. That said, its a beautiful and dynamic app but design and functionality generally isn’t enough to sway users en masse. Ultimately, sharing only works if the people you want to share with are using the same service as you.