Facebook’s social graph was yanked from Path smartphone apps over the weekend after the company restricted access to Path’s API privileges. With access gone Path users can no longer use Facebook to search for friends and invite them for inclusion via the Path app.
Facebook pulled access to the API after Path spammed Facebook inbox’s last week in an attempt to gain new users.
While Path users can still login using the Facebook button they can no longer find Facebook friends and invite them to the network.
Facebook has removed access to its API in the past, most notably for MessageMe and Voxer, both of which were deemed as competitors to Facebook’s own third-party software solutions.
While Facebook did not directly state that Path access to its API was removed because of Spam we do know that Facebook users began receiving unwanted messages from Path last week.
In Path version 3.0.4 users can still invite friends from their contact book and Gmail contacts lists.
Last week Path reached the 10 million registered users milestone, largely in part to Facebook invites and word of mouth for the mobile only social network.
Path has now added Twitter as a new way for users to find and invite their closest friends and followers to their Path accounts. Path could find success by giving Twitter users their first opportunity to create a private network of their own.
Path is believed to have a high user churn which means the Facebook restriction could hinder the mobile social networks growth more than even Path may believe.
