Facebook Lite goes live

Facebook has launched a light version of its site called Facebook Lite. It will give users a simplified, faster-loading experience than the traditional Facebook. The intention of this site is to help those poor users having poor internet connections, people will have a better experience than they have had so far. The app is only live in the US and India, according to Facebook developer Blake Ross, but a worldwide release is not so far away. As I write this post, I too was able to access Facebook Lite, so that means it is live in Pakistan as well.

As anyone who has tried to access Facebook on a slow connection already knows, features like photos can take forever to load, or even not load at all.

The design aesthetic of Lite is more appealing and simple. The news feed includes a simple top toolbar, just items from your friends and a few obvious buttons for posting updates or media. The profile page is similarly bare. There is no bottom toolbar for any third-party apps. There are currently only a few crucial in-house apps available. Facebook’s own Photo and Video apps are located within the profile page, while Events is available in the top toolbar.

A Facebook spokesperson described it to us, then:

Similar to the Facebook experience you get on your mobile phones, Facebook “Lite” is a fast-loading, simplified version of Facebook that enables people to make comments, accept Friend requests, write on people’s Walls, and look at photos and Status updates. We are currently testing Facebook Lite in countries where we are seeing lots of new users coming to Facebook for the first time and are looking to start off with a more simple experience.

Facebook is currently seeing massive growth around the world. The company says some 70 percent of its more than 250 million users are from outside the US. Countries in Southeast Asia and Europe are seeing especially notable growth. Of those, some 65 million are already accessing the site on their phone.