Path’s social network, messaging app to be acquired by South Korean Internet firm

By Jose Alvarez May 29, 2015

paths social network messaging app to be acquired by south korean company path screenshots

Path, the mobile-based social network founded by former Facebook manager Dave Morin, has been acquired by the South Korean Internet company, Daum Kakao. Terms of the sale were not revealed, however, Daum Kakao is only buying the Path and Path Talk apps, not the company, Path, Inc.

Whereas most social networks allow users to amass as many followers as they wish, Path, founded in 2010, limits that number to 150. The concept is to build a tight, private group of highly trusted connections in which users could feel more comfortable in sharing their thoughts, photos, locations, etc. While the service had some early success, drawing millions from investors, it failed to catch on in ways Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have. Path Talk is a standalone messaging app Path acquired from TalkTo.

Related Videos

But, according to Path, one region where it’s gaining traction is Southeast Asia, specifically Indonesia, which has the most Path users, and it’s this growth area that made it attractive to Daum Kakao.

“Path’s strong user base in the fast growing Indonesian market makes it a powerful candidate for growth into a mobile lifestyle platform with rich services that impacts users on a daily basis,” says Alex Kim, head of Daum Kakao Indonesia, in a statement. “We believe there is huge potential for Daum Kakao and Path in the global market, and we are looking forward to bringing out meaningful synergy with other Daum Kakao services and provide greater value to our users.”

As one of the world’s top-ten largest mobile markets, Indonesia’s data revenues are on the rise, according to Redwing, an analysis firm in the country.

“We believe Daum Kakao, with its deep understanding of the Asian market and experience in leading mobile innovation, will be able to provide Path users with additional resources and value,” Morin adds, in the same statement.

As for Path the company, Morin and staff will not be heading to Daum Kakao (“I feel confident that Daum Kakao will take great care of the Path community,” Morin writes). Kong, the selfie animated GIF app, remains part of Path, Inc.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Social Media

Instagram ditches plans for stand-alone Direct messaging app

how to use instagram guide 12

After experimenting with a dedicated messaging app, Instagram is shuttering its stand-alone Direct app. Tests of moving Direct to a separate app never reached Messenger-level status, which likely mixed with Facebook’s new focus on privacy and potentially merging messaging tools in the decision to shut down the separate app. Instagram confirmed that the Direct app will be shut down over the next month. (The messaging features remain intact inside the Instagram app.)

Instagram started the Direct app as a test in limited markets in 2017, including Chile, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Uruguay. At the time, the company aimed to bring features not available inside the Instagram app into the dedicated messaging platform. Direct opened straight to the camera, much like Snapchat. The app also had filters that weren’t available inside Instagram. While the Direct messaging feature never left Instagram, users that downloaded the test no longer had the messaging options inside Instagram.

Social Media

5 social media networks that are still alive and kicking, but we don’t know why

unpopular social media sites that are still around unsplash

Do you remember tricking out your Myspace profile with purple flaming wallpaper and deciding which of your friends would make your top eight? Or, creating that super-secret circle in Google+? Were you one of those people sending a "yo" to everyone you knew, a few summers ago?

There are loads of social networks out there, with new ones popping up all the time -- each attempting to be the next big thing. The problem is that social media trends come and go, and popularity is never guaranteed. But there are a few sites that are hanging around way past their expiration dates. When Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat dominate the social scene, we wonder how these five particular social networks continue to hang on.

Mobile

Own an iPhone 7? Try these 15 iMessage apps, sticker packs, games for iOS 10

We reviewed Apple's iOS 10 last year, and it came with a host of improvements. Most importantly, the iMessage App Store lets you download stickers and install games or apps for you to play and use directly within a conversation. The whole iMessage platform, announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference earlier this year, is quite similar to the Facebook chat bots craze. You can install apps like The Weather Channel if you want to pull up the day's highs and lows directly within a chat, or OpenTable, which lets you vote and book your favorite restaurants.

There are three types of iMessage Apps you can install -- games, apps, and stickers. You can access the iMessage App Store from the Messages app by tapping the App Store icon near the keyboard in a conversation. The list of stickers, games, and apps for iMessage are continuing to grow, and plenty more will come. For now, we've picked five in each section that we think you should download. Check them out.