If you’re not into social networking, let me introduce you to a new social networking app you may be interested in. If you are into social networking, you’ll love this little gem.

Path has been around for a year or so but was recently relaunched and wants to make your social network smaller.

You read that right. Small and intimate is the game.

Path’s goal is to get you sharing openly and more often. Being over 18, that’s not really a life goal of mine. But being over 18, I also value the family and close friendships I have. So while Facebook is fun and Twitter lets me live at 140 characters a minute, there’s a lot of stuff I just don’t want the world to know. And frankly, there’s a lot it doesn’t want to know. Path is for the people in your life who do. That blurry photo of my niece riding a bike for the first time with no trainer wheels? That’s gold. I notice that didn’t go on Facebook.

First thing you need to know is Path is only available on iPhone and Android. No computer access and not even a dedicated tablet version. There are no privacy controls either. Since it’s intended for close friends they’re redundant. Just to make the point , Path only lets you friend at most 150 people. There’s a theory that this is the most you can keep up a meaningful relationship with. Don’t accept every friend request and don’t be offended if someone declines.

Once you set up a free account, Path asks you to choose an avatar and profile picture. These are analogous to the new Facebook profile photo and Timeline over picture. There is an option to link with Facebook and Twitter. These are turned off by default and you have to select them each time you post. In that regard Path really isn’t trying to compete with Facebook or Twitter, it complements them nicely. If you do post to Facebook or Twitter, your friends can click the link and view that moment on their phone or computer, but not access any other part of your path.

There are four areas in Path:

• ‘Home’ which posts all you and your friends moments (like your Facebook wall),
• ‘Path’ which is your path (like your Facebook timeline),
• ‘Activity’ which shows a condensed version of moments where you’ve interacted with friends, and
• ‘Settings’ which is self-evident.

You’ll spend most of your time in the ‘Home’ screen which is where you post updates and read others. From there you have quick access to your friends via an icon in the status bar, your other areas via the same, and posting via an icon in the lower left hand corner of the screen (a red plus symbol).

Tap on the status update icon and you’re given a variety of choices: photos, people, places, music, thoughts and sleep/wake (really – this is about intimate remember!). When someone posts a moment you can comment or choose from a basic set of emoticons. It’s a nice touch because unlike Facebook, you can ‘unlike’ something. Or ‘heart’ it if you want. You can also see how many have viewed the post and who of your friends has if you’re looking at someone else’s post.

This is one of the most beautiful apps I’ve used. Everything about the app is designed to enhance the user experience with few distractions. For example, as you scroll through your home screen a discreet clock icon tells you what time and day that moment occurred.

Photos are a core part of Path and it even has a nice set of photo effects Instagram style. In fact, so far the only paid upgrades are some pretty naff photo effects. What were they thinking? Fortunately the good ones are free. Path doesn’t bother with albums but all your photos save to your phone’s camera roll. Start typing in a song and Path will search a database and let your friends listen to a sample on Amazon. Places tags you on a map and so on. You can also tag friends and the nifty thing is they don’t have to be on Path. Not really a privacy concern because you’re connecting with people you trust, remember?

My wife recently took a holiday with our two girls without me. Path was brilliant for keeping family up with all that was happening. Lots of photos of my girls and their friends. For family overseas it’s also a win. You just don’t want that on Facebook.

Visit their website here to grab the app or find out more.