The Path is not crowded. Yet.

So there's this app called Path. I heard about it from a friend who knows his stuff when it comes to social media and integrating it with the real world, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

First, let me say that I really, really, really love the idea. The app integrates multiple social media streams (Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare, Twitter, Tumblr). All of this in one place, in one stream. This is fantastic for the next reason that I love the idea- it's intended for use by a limited circle of friends and family, for close sharing. So I have many relatives who are not on Instagram, Twitter, or Foursquare. This puts all of my activity in one place so they can still keep up, and I can add even more detail ( like that I'm awake or asleep) to keep them up to date. Yes, it seems like a large amount of detail, which is why it's meant for only close family and friends- parents and grandparents who really care that it's 61 degrees today and the kids are both passing math.

I'm not even kidding. I'll add the math part later.

So while I love the idea, here's the issue.
It's an app for iOS and Android. There's no desktop version. So those people I talked about earlier who don't have Twitter or Instagram or Foursquare? Yeah, most don't really use a lot of apps on their smartphones either, if they even have smartphones. So, while I sent invitations to my close family to try this out, so far I'm the only one on my feed. Every one of them quickly responded to the invitation, but none had the right phone  or data plan to use the app. So the interest was there.

Other gripes I have so far, some of which could be lack of knowledge due to lack of use (due to lack of family with smartphones... see above). The music sharing doesn't integrate with my Spotify. It says that it will import my Instagram, Facebook, etc, and it did when I initially set everything up. But since then, I haven't seen a single post come across. I also posted something from Path and tried to cross-post to Instagram without success.

Ultimately I think this is an awesome idea, and I would love to see it take off. A desktop app would make it a MUST for keeping up with family. I'll keep watching it, that's for sure.