Facebook Lite: Tried and tested in India. And leaked

Socializing via Facebook in bed the other night I was sure I felt a minor tremor on the world-wide web when I hit a Tweet about the new Facebook Lite -- a stripped down version of the social networking site. And it is being beta tested only in the subcontinent. Right now!

Immediately, questions. What is it? Why India? When is it ready?

I wasn't alone. MG Siegler at Tech Crunch had the updates, sent to him by a user who was given temporary beta access. Siegler writes:

• “Facebook Lite has an extremely clean look and feel to it … reminiscent of the old days of Facebook, when its simplified look drew users away from the cluttered MySpace.”
• “The screenshot of Facebook Lite…makes it look a lot like Twitter and FriendFeed [which Facebook bought for $50 million earlier this week].”

• “But in reality, Facebook Lite has nothing to do with Twitter or FriendFeed -- at least, not right now. Instead, it was designed to be used in parts of the world where broadband speeds vary and can be expensive, we’re being told by Facebook. Given that the initial testing of it has taken place in India over the past several days, this makes sense.” 

At Facebook HQ, the following statement was quickly made: “We have not opened up access to lite.facebook.com to all users at this time. People who are not part of the test and are trying to access 'Lite' will be directed to Facebook.com as usual." 

View the screenshots here, which Siegler received from user Azhar Chougle who was testing Facebook Lite in India. Chougle says, “… let me tell you it’s so much damn faster than the normal Facebook.”

In other words, if this is all true, it promises to be faster, less cluttered and simpler than the current Facebook site, and will load a lot quicker on my computer.

Since we are stuck with sluggish internet speeds here in India, I am all for a stripped down, speedier Facebook. Make mine a lite please.