Facebook Launches Facebook Lite

Although Facebook Lite was built with slow connection speeds in mind - and for those in developing nations with said slow connection speeds - the service is currently available only in the U.S. and India. The new site was such a hit with beta testers in the U.S. that the company decided to launch here first.

Some of the primary differences are what you might expect from a Facebook Lite. The code is cleaner and the pages load faster. There are smaller and fewer ads on the pages. There are no applications or pages, no groups and no photo image. Users have noticed that Facebook Lite is much easier to handle on smart phones and laptops and, generally, offers a better user experience on desktops as well.

Users have found that the simpler layout is less stressful and confusing and that it's easier to get to the user's primary reason for accessing Facebook in the first place. Some experts are speculating that the new Facebook Lite will explode in popularity among users - and it certainly might. Lean and mean seems to be the name of the game in site design and functionality these days. Just ask Twitter.

As the site becomes available to mainstream users, it will be interesting to see how many Facebook users will make the switch. It will also be interesting to see if the new design will attract any users who have strayed from Facebook or who had stayed away altogether.