Path review [Android]

Does the world really need another social networking portal to suck up more time that we don’t have? It's probably a question that will flash through your head the moment you install Path for the first time.

The brainchild of former Facebook executive Dave Morin and Napster co-creator Shawn Fanning, this new kid on the block is looking to combine elements of rival services to create a more personal platform, and has wasted no time in pushing out an Android application to assist this revolution.

As the name suggests, Path is all about creating a timeline of your life - primarily through images but also via other elements. When you sign up to the service (which thankfully can be done entirely within the app itself, and doesn’t require you to access your web browser), this momentous event becomes the first step on your path.

Adding new events - such as your location, a photo, the title of the song you’re listening to or even what time you go to bed - adds further information to your path, which then grows vertically upwards, creating a multimedia representation of your existence.

Unlike existing networks, Path has a more controlled way of adding friends. You can be extremely selective about who can see your path, and for close-knit families who like to keep in touch when apart, this could be a valuable tool. It’s certainly less busy and distracting than rival social networks, and that ultimately means you spend more time digesting the information you’re being fed, rather than skipping past items as is often the case on Twitter or Facebook.