Interesting article over on the ol’ TechCrunch right now about Path, the gorgeous app recently positioned as a smart journal.
It touches on something I’ve been thinking about for awhile in regard to Path. It’s something that you can probably say about many things in life. In a nutshell, when something is small and intimate it’s significantly more compelling than when it’s huge and used by everybody.
So while Path’s latest revision has certainly piqued usage, it now has another problem.
A case of the randoms.
Depending on your level of influence, you’ve no doubt had some experience with the phenomena. I’m talking about the floods of random friend requests one might get on any social platform. Who are all these people? I really don’t know and, for the most part, can’t be bothered to find out.
I do know that I have spent a considerable part of my recent career ignoring their requests. Generally they’re harmless, but on networks that require a reciprocal friend acceptance it’s a problem. In the case of Path, it’s an even bigger problem.
You see, many use Path to share their most personal moments. I’m talking about the stuff that’s simply too good for Twitter and even Facebook. I get it that many of our online social graphs have grown dramatically in recent years. However, for me it’s still important to have someplace to share a moment without megaphoning it out to the world at large.
So, randoms, please don’t send me a Path friend request unless we actually know one another. I’m talking real-world stuff in that regard. It’s nice to have a private and quiet space online and you’re totally screwing that up for me.
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Sean Percival is an internet entrepreneur based in Los Angeles, California.
