Kickin' It Old School: Facebook Lite Launches In The U.S. And India
Well here it is. Just as we first discovered a few weeks ago, Facebook Lite has just been released for U.S. users to test out. Simply put, the site is SO much cleaner than Facebook regular, and much, much nicer to look at. Did I mention much, much faster?
Originally intended to be used in countries where high speed Internet connections are sparse or non-existant, apparently Facebook has realized there's a real desire among all its users to have a smaller version of the service. [Update: More on that below] On top of a launch in the U.S., the service is also live in India right now, we're told.
As we wrote last month:
All that being said, it is entirely possible that the service could find its way to the rest of the world as an option for those who maybe don?t want all the bells and whistles that Facebook provides, and instead just want speed. Facebook didn?t have anything to say on that matter, and specifically not the U.S., but it seems reasonable.
One great thing about Facebook Lite is that on top of being much cleaner, updates appear in real-time along the bottom of the page, something which is much nicer to look at then that ugly toolbar that is on Facebook Proper. This alongside the Facebook's brilliant experimental desktop updater for Mac seems to show that the company is committed to user experience once again, rather than cluttering things up. Remember, keep it simple, stupid.
This move into the U.S. market with Lite is also interesting because rival MySpace did a similar thing to remove bloat back in April. Thin is in, it seems.
Of course, if you like applications on Facebook, you won't like this version, as they are nowhere to be found. But the reason myself and many others started using Facebook in the first place was because of the social connections and data. I want to access this data as quickly as possible, I don't care about playing games.
You'll also notice that an "Events" tab has been added to the top toolbar. Again, this is much nicer than Facebook Proper, where events are buried in a sub-section. Also along the top, just above the Feed is a way to "View Top Stories" as opposed to those listed in order. I hate to keep repeating myself, but again, a great change.
So why India as well? Well, as we noted previously, India is one of the countries that was originally being targeted by Facebook Lite, and it was the first test space it launched in several months ago. India also represents an area where Facebook is growing very fast. So fast, in fact, that Yahoo may have shut down a social network of its own, SpotM, in response to it. Google's Orkut remains the leader in the country, however.
This is the third interesting development to come out of Facebook just today. This morning, it announced that it would open source a key part of the technology behind the recently acquired FriendFeed. And earlier this afternoon, it began using the "@ reply" syntax, mimicking the way people communicate on rival Twitter.
We've reached out to Facebook for comment as to why they decided to push this live in the U.S. so quickly. We'll update when we hear back.
Update: Here's what Facebook is saying on the matter:
We decided to roll out Facebook Lite in the U.S. to give users a simple, expedient alternative to facebook.com, and hope that it will fill this need. While the majority of our user base is outside the United States, we?re always working to enhance the new user experience even in markets where facebook.com is easily accessible. We have also found that people who are new to Facebook tend to be most interested in a simpler experience, focus on establishing their network of friends and communicating with them by writing on their walls, sending messages, and looking at pictures. We have introduced the Lite site with these new users in mind.
Update 2: And here's Zuckerberg with the team that worked this banging the gong for the release.
Source: Washington Post
« Back to Sci/Tech News
Related News
-
What Facebook Lite Actually Is. Hint: It's Not Twitter Or FriendFeed. Sep 10, 2009 @ 03:15 AM
So, the web pretty much exploded tonight over the appearance of something called "Facebook Lite," a new service that's apparently being beta tested by Facebook. But users who received the message that they were invited to test it out, were frustrated when the link didn't work. There's a reason for that: It was a mistake to roll the test out to most of these users tonight, Facebook has confirmed to us.
-
UN says climate finale may have happy ending Sep 10, 2009 @ 03:15 AM
COPENHAGEN — Delegates converged Sunday for the grand finale of two years of tough, sometimes bitter negotiations on a climate change treaty, as U.N. officials calculated that pledges offered in the last few weeks to reduce greenhouse gases put the world within reach of keeping global warming under control.
-
Apple Has Acquired Lala Sep 10, 2009 @ 03:15 AM
Earlier today we covered rumors that Apple was in talks to acquire streaming music service Lala. Now New York Times tech reporter Brad Stone has tweeted that it's a done deal. He writes, "Apple has acquired digital music startup Lala. Now updating our story". You can find the NYT story here.
-
Review: Motorola's Cliq is a snappy smart phone Sep 10, 2009 @ 03:15 AM
SAN FRANCISCO — Imagine how you'd feel if you peaked in middle school. That's pretty much what happened to cell phone maker Motorola Inc., which had a megahit in 2005 with its Razr handset but has since failed to fashion another that can approach its popularity.
-
Hands On with Facebook and Twitter for Xbox LIVE Sep 10, 2009 @ 03:15 AM
Microsoft's next Xbox LIVE update with Facebook and Twitter support went out to those of us with preview access early this morning, and I've just finished tinkering with it.
