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Social

Social Overload

AHHHHHH!Like a lot of folks I’ve been suffering from Social Overload, or SO for short. With the introduction of Stamped, Arrived, and Path it got even crazier for about a week. After using, or considering some of these newcomers I made some decisions.

My Favorite

Path, without a doubt is my new favorite Social Network. It’s what Facebook could have been if it had been carefully designed, as Path was. If I were a mobile developer at Facebook I’d be jealous of the job the fine folks at Path have done. It’s beautifully designed, contrary to what some designers think. The timeline was beautifully executed and I love the little touches like Covers, which amount to nothing more than a wallpaper for your path. It’s a tiny thing but it really makes the app feel like it’s yours. After spending a few days with Path I started thinking to myself “Where does this leave Gowalla in my mix of apps?”, but we’ll get to that later.

Path is a really nice mix of check-in based apps, like Gowalla and Foursquare, and social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. It fits right in that sweet spot for me. Twitter is minimal, which I love, and Facebook is overbearing and ugly.

Bottom line, I love Path.

The Non Starter

I jumped on Arrived when I heard about it, but I never really got into it. I think it required my phone number to sign up, which I didn’t want to give out. It also has links to Facebook, which is a turnoff. I don’t remember if it requires the use of a Facebook account? Maybe someone can clarify that for me?

I like the look of the UI. It looks leathery, with stitches. I’m sure some designers will love it, others will hate it.

Stamped

I love the look of this application and it’s super simple. With Stamped you stamp things you like. What could be easier? I think I’ll keep this one around for a while and give it a fair chance. It came out just before Path 2.0, which is unfortunate. Path just stole my attention.

Goodbye, Facebook

I’ve been struggling with the idea of closing down my Facebook account for a while now and with the introduction of Path I just don’t need it anymore. If family and friends need to get in touch with me there’s always the phone, my web home, email, Twitter, and Path. Many, many, ways to get in touch.

A few nights ago I deleted my Facebook account and I haven’t missed it.

Gowalla, Bummer

I say bummer because I actually liked Gowalla, and used it more than Foursquare. I was pulling for the little guy and I liked the company.

Gowalla is no more. It’s now a Facebook property and I have no idea what that means for the service. I suppose it will be lost somewhere in the bowels of Facebook, just more plumbing. I’d love to see how that integration works. How will the folks from Austin, Texas, gel with folks in California? I suppose we’ll see. I hope it works well for them.

Another question, how long with that Tumblr based Gowalla weblog exist? The links above may suffer from link rot in a few years, who knows?

Gowalla had some fine folks working on it and they’re fleeing like rats from a sinking ship, not that I blame them. I’m not sure I’d like to work for Facebook myself.

Tim Van Damme is moving on to Instagram, which is kind of weird given this post, and quote.

In 10 years we’ll look back at apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic and chuckle. “What were we thinking?”

Then again, maybe that’s why Instagram hired him. Maybe he has a way to fix the problems he sees with the service?

Another Gowalla’ite, Phillip McAllister is also joining Instagram.

But, I digress. It definitely made me feel even better about using Path. The Gowalla team is no more, Gowalla the app, and service, are no more. Makes deleting the application from my phone a no brainer.

In and Out

In – Path and Stamped.
Out – Facebook and Gowalla.

By Rob Fahrni

Husband / Father / Developer