Exactly one month ago I started using Path and Instagram.  The delay on Path was due to my utter need to avoid it as long as I could, and for Instagram it was the barrier to entry since I have only Android devices.  On that day a month ago, the Android Instagram app launched and I started to walk down the Path.  I wrote a quick blog about the two new (for me) social platforms.

My first impressions were positive for both.  I really liked how clean and easy to use Path was.  For Instagram, I already knew what I was getting myself into so there was no surprise factor, but in finally getting to use the app I quickly realized the cool factor was worth all the hype.

A month later?

Instagram is still really, really cool.  Worth a billion dollars?  Probably not.  But yes, really cool and also fun to connect with people strictly with imagery.  There are also benefits for a brand, too – sharing beautiful pictures that can quickly reach your followers to show off your product, location, style or whatever it may be you’re aiming for.  Instagram has been added to my home screen on my Evo and tablet.

Path is a bit of a different story.  While I still agree with my original assessment about the cleanliness of the app and the smooth sharing functionality with other platforms, the app is just plain boring.  I have been adding people for weeks and checking the app consistently, as well as posting my own content, and….crickets.  I never really got much more than a few views on my posts (which I will admit was pretty generic content) and other people that I followed hardly used the app.  A check-in here or there, a picture once a week.  Not much else.  The posts screamed, “I’m posting something that you’ll think is super boring, but it’s OK because I felt like my Path quota was coming up.”  The app is great and the platform had potential, but it just didn’t go anywhere.  Path has since been removed from my phone.

And there’s my update.  The winner by total knockout: Instagram.