It seems like FaceBook has had a busy couple of days. First they announce that they just paid $50 million dollars for FriendFeed, and now comes word that they are testing something called FaceBook lite. As someone who is sometimes considered a FaceBook stalker, I just had to find out more about FaceBook lite.
My favorite part of this story may just be how the rumor got started in the first place. FaceBook let the cat out of the bag by posting invites to people who were not supposed to be invited to the program. I will never understand how this happens. I hope that person got fired. Out of a cannon. Into the sun (Futurama references will be a common occurrence in my posts).
Basically, it’s a simplified version of the normal FaceBook site (or those of you with iPhones, just imagine that, but loading on a computer). Lite will only have the basic functions of FaceBook, including status updates, friend request, photos, and the ability to write on and view a person’s wall.
FaceBook lite is mainly going to be used in countries where internet speeds are not as quick and stable as they are here. Sometimes when I’m loading up FaceBook on my broadband connection, it gets a little bogged down, so I can see exactly why this could be helpful. Currently it’s being tested in India, but there are plans to move that into other areas like China and Russia.
Many people are thinking that this could be FaceBook’s first step into a war with Twitter. I can see why people would think that, but as much as I would like to see these two internet giants go head to head, I don’t think this move really has anything to do with Twitter (although I will be fighting alongside my FaceBook brethren). Instead, I think it’s just to try and increase FaceBook’s web presence in new areas as much as they can. China and India are currently ranked number 1 and 2 in population, respectively. With about 2.4 billion people, why wouldn’t FaceBook want to do anything possible to grow in these areas?
August 12th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Great Title!!