Slim is in - Facebook goes Diet

Social networking goliath Facebook today rolled out a pared down version of its universally recognised site, called Facebook Lite. The site is designed to help the company expand into developing countries where slower internet speeds are common. The company has also launched it in the U.S. as a quicker alternative to the main site for users that want very basic functionality without any apps.

In an apparent effort to make the site more like rival Twitter the options on Facebook Lite are limited to letting users write on their wall, post photos and videos, view events and browse other people’s profiles. There are no apps or special boxes. The “Friends” tab in the top navigation bar of the current site is replaced in Facebook Lite by a new “Events” link that opens up a page of invitations.

The profile page has been streamlined. It now shows only four options: your wall, info, friends and photos and video. The interface for sharing items is much simpler too. You can share almost everything that you can in the main version, except actions related to your applications and events. It would appear that you can only ‘comment’ on or ‘like’ items in a feed. You can’t do more advanced actions, such as viewing a wall-to-wall post or inviting other friends to an event.

At the time of writing Facebook Lite is only available in India and the U.S. Initial reaction Stateside is positive so expect to see it coming to Ireland soon.