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Facebook Lite Preview; Twitter Changes ToS
September 11, 2009
48 Comments | Add Comment
The Facebook Lite home page -- might be liter than air, to hold up those balloons. (Screenshot by HowStuffWorks.com)
I’m sure some (though not all) of the people who wanted Facebook to drop its combined all-in-one super home page are going to be happy when they see Facebook Lite. So far, according to BBC News and Rafe Needleman at CNET, the preview is available in the United States and in India at the moment, so if you don’t live in one of those two countries, you can’t see it yet. But if you’re one of those currently eligible, point your browser to http://lite.facebook.com and take a look.
I know, fewer calories, right? OK, I’m kidding, but those of you who wanted a simpler Facebook page with just posts from your friends and fewer bells and whistles may like this revised layout. There are no third-party applications on Facebook Lite. The BBC said it’s designed to help people in developing countries with slower Internet connections use the site. And that’s good, because the news agency quotes Facebook as saying 70 percent of the site’s subscribers are from countries other than the United States.
The site loads much faster, and Needleman said he’d switch permanently over to the new version. I still haven’t decided yet. I like seeing my bookmarked applications, but basically eliminate all the others that show up in my news feed.
Just a few minutes ago, I got a notice in my e-mail inbox from Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, telling me that the social networking site’s terms of service have changed. A site’s terms of service basically tell you what you can and can’t do on a Web site. Steven Musil of CNET took a look at some of the changes.
In very basic terms, Twitter says it has the right to reproduce and display your content, but the content itself is yours. In displaying and distributing that content though, Twitter says it has the right to do that via application programming interfaces, or APIs. That means that people who make Twitter applications can show your content because they’re using Twitter’s API.
The new ToS discuss what constitutes spam and abusive behavior on the site, and say that Twitter is considering using advertising, which isn’t a new declaration.
You can read the new terms of service if you like, or just check out the overview on Twitter’s blog.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more, take a look at these links:
How Online Social Networks Work
How Twitter Works
How Facebook Works
Update: For several days now I have been receiving comments from people explaining that their Facebook accounts have been switched over to Facebook Lite, apparently without their asking, and they cannot switch back to using the older version of the site. I don’t know what’s causing this behavior, nor do I know how to make it stop.
After days of being asked to change people’s accounts back and remove Facebook Lite, I feel compelled to point out that HowStuffWorks.com is not affiliated with Facebook, doesn’t represent Facebook and cannot make changes to your Facebook account.
Thank you all for your understanding.
Comments
48 Responses to “Facebook Lite Preview; Twitter Changes ToS”
how is it possible that “Facebook lite” is only available in USA and india if it on the world wide web ???i’m in pakistan and i was able to open this page . maybe ’cause i’m india’s neighbor ;D
Chris Pollette says: Fatima,
Believe it or not, your relative location can be identified over the World Wide Web pretty easily. This is why we here in America can’t use services such as Spotify or the BBC’s streaming video service. Once code in the Web site identifies where you are it can refuse to allow you to log in and use the service, if the organization that runs the Web site chooses to do so.
The BBC, CNET and MG Siegler at TechCrunch all reported a limited release — so if it’s available in Pakistan, I guess you can try it out, too!
Chris Pollette says: Brenda,
Whether Facebook meant to or not, it appears that the company is making the Lite site open to Facebook users everywhere.
What do you all think of it? Comments on Facebook suggest that it’s not so popular, but I don’t mind it…
Brenda says: Chris, I sent feed back telling them that if they had ‘friends current status updates’ I’d be sold! I said, even twitter has that much if you click on ‘following’! Regular fb took that feature away with one of their ongoing bunch of changes. A lot of people miss that feature.
I find fb lite is really good if you only have access to ‘dial-up’ service however it won’t be popular with gamers or people who like adding attachments etc … The ads are sparse right now but you can bet that will change!
This Lite version of facebook works anywhere I guess,
I live in Egypt and I tried the link it worked ..
The lite version lacks the wall to wall option, And i think that option is from the essentials ..
youv been talking a lot about video games lately and i was looking on line and found somthing called a emulator that can replicate a nintendo 64 or other old gameing systems on your PC. i was wondering how this worked? i was also wondering if it is aproved by the nintendo company or its just so old now that they dont care. please leave feed back or make a show of it thanks.
Chris Pollette says: Hey Skylar,
An emulator is a piece of software that lets a computer recreate the hardware and software environment necessary to use software designed for another machine. There are all kinds of emulators that work on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Emulators by themselves probably won’t get you in trouble with the game company. Downloading games to play on the emulators, however, is very likely to get you in trouble. We did an episode of the podcast a few months ago on an emulator called MAME. You can listen to that if you want to get a better idea of how it works. Essentially, what you need to know is this: If you don’t own the read-only memory (ROM) for a game (or other software you’re emulating), then you cannot legally emulate it and could get in trouble.
That’s especially difficult in the case of MAME, which emulates arcade games. You’d have to actually have the guts of the machine for it to be legal for you to play the game on your computer, which is why the people who make the software don’t keep copies of the games available for you to download.
Hope that makes sense.
For heaven’s sake..how do i switch back from fb-lite??? There is no option provided…! Seems indians are the guinea pigs!! Take a look, Chris. See the comments.. http://lite.facebook.com/pages/Facebook-Lite/129521886143/ and don’t forget to check the wall too..!!
Trushil says: Facebook Lite sucks…i want to revert back to the earlier version…but there is no link to do so….help me out…i like the earlier version….
Facebook Lite is horryfying and very irritating.. Did u see the comments tht indicate the irritation of people who have been switched on to FB Lite. FB thinks tht this is a big deal and somethng good tht they’ve done..BUT people r not liking it. Get the regular normal version of FB back.
FB LITE IS CRAP and very uninteresting!!!!!!!
hey man tell me how to switch back to regualar facebook…i dont want this facebook llite there is no chat no requests no games no quizes wat is this ??plzzzzzzzzzzzz reply me now plzzzzzzzzzzz how to switch to regular facebook…
Hey u knw what facebook has really done it this time what is the use of offering a beta if people cant go back to the original.
satyaveer says: FaceBook was found to be the best site among all,, but know i dnt even like to open my account,,,,now i think the only option is to deactivate my FaceBook account.
GOoD BYE FACEBOOK.
or plz get me the way to go back to regular fb…i hate fb lite no applictaion no chat….what to do now???
Jagster says: FB lite sucks out of proportion!! Whats the difference b/w it and twitter now?? No proper notifications, apps, chat, and no HOME??
Sucks…sucks…sucks!!!
Tell us how can we revert to regular FB??? This will be remembered as the worst disasterous beta of anything in recent times!!!!
Bhabesh says: This newer version so called Facebook lite is actuallt Facebook Heavy. It is totally uncomfortable and not user friendly. Whoever has coined the thought process should do some more ground work. Change is acceptable and one should accept, but with a little liberty give. Guys(Developer) of Facebooklite please do not force your innovation on so many user, It’s TOTALY IRRATIONAL AND MOST IRRITATING. GIVE OPTION TO USERS TO SWITCH BETWEEN FACEBOOK AND FACEBOOKLITE. THIS WILL HELP USING OLDER VERSION OF FACEBOOK and SIMOLTANEOUSLY EXPLORING THE FACEBOOKLITE TO GET ADAPTED TO IT. GUYS(THE DEAR DEVELOPER & INNOVATORS OF FACEBOOK LITE) IF HEARING THE VOICE OF USERS CAN YOU PLEASE ADD ON THIS LITTLE SIMPLE INNOVATION TO YOUR HIGHT PRIORITY TASK LIST AND DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE……TAHNKS
Chris Pollette says: Hello everybody,
I’m not having the same problem you all are in going back to regular Facebook. If you visit http://www.facebook.com you should be able to access your regular page.
If that’s not working, and it’s taking you back to Facebook Lite, then you should clear your browser cache. Once your cookies are gone you should be able to visit http://www.facebook.com without any trouble.
Chris Pollette says: Also, for those of you who can’t stand Facebook Lite, you should tell them at the feedback request form they have posted on the right-hand side of the page. The URL is http://lite.facebook.com/feedback/
chris,
it is not working, I’m facing the same problem! It seems that i still can’t access to my normal facebook…..please give me some remedy!
Chris Pollette says: Brina,
You’ve already cleared your cookies out? Are you having the same problem if you use a different browser? Try a different browser. If you can get to http://www.facebook.com on a different Web browser, then it’s a cookie thing.
If those don’t work, perhaps Facebook can give you some hints. I can’t duplicate the problem here (and I can’t really do tech support). I still think it’s a cookie issue.
well i just want my old facebook back.i cannot access ma games nor the gifts which i get through those games.r u forcing this thing on us ??
jus gimme a way back to the original facebook
Chris Pollette says: Nithin, I’m not sure why you’ve told people to comment here, because I don’t know that it will change anything. There’s no guarantee that any of the Facebook developers are reading this blog post. I still think it’s better if you comment directly to Facebook, which it appears that many people already have.
Just to clear up any confusion, our blog isn’t affiliated with Facebook in any way. I don’t have any contacts at Facebook and we cannot make changes to their site.
I am wondering, however, if it’s a localized thing, since here in the United States I’m having no problems shifting between the two versions.
If you all want to comment further, that’s fine, just please be civil.
Brenda says: Don’t know if this will work for you guys having trouble but you can try entering http://www.facebook.com/your user name. If that doesn’t work then write to fb help and ask them. I’m sure they will help you.
This address has general Q & A – http://www.facebook.com/help/search.php?hq=contact%20Facebook
With this address you can submit ‘password being dropped’ – http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=password_dropped
Hope this helps!?
don’t want ot use this bloody facebook lite..
hw can i go back to normal facebook??
Anish says: Chris whatever you have suggested i have tried everything possible to get back to the original version but of no use.It seems guys at facebook think Indians are still living in a century old era with 56Kbps line let me make one thing clear we do have a gud broadband reach and according to Indian Givt standard the broadband definition is minimum 256Kbps. If this lite thing continues I am sure facebook will loose many of its loyal users and let there be no doubt I would be the first one to delete my account. Regarding the comment Chris gave above the feedback thing is not working nobody replies to the feedback I wonder how can facebook do such a big blunder… I am starting to hate facebook
Kirat says: facebook lite is horrible… how do you clear cookies?
Chris Pollette says: Kirat,
It depends on which browser you’re using. Go into your browser preferences and look under the privacy and security settings. Judging from the comments I’ve seen, though, I’m not sure if that will really help.
I wonder if the private browsing feature on the newer browsers will make a difference. Probably not, if it’s geographically based and not cookie based.
Chris all the remedies you have pointed out are not working. It is not a cookie thing. The people who were duped into the facebook lite version are always getting that version.
Although the settings page is I think the only page that takes us back to the original version. I think there may have been nummerous feedback condemning the lite version. i have done it too.
Leaving this aside there is even a fan page for this on facebook from the makers for comments on it. It has more than a 1000 comments against it.
regards
Hyder
Chris Pollette says: Hyder,
I’ve seen the comments page, and it appears lots of people don’t like what’s going on. I haven’t seen anything about it posted anywhere else, but if I do, I’ll be sure to post it and let everyone know.
I still think it’s some sort of problem and not an intentional move on Facebook’s part. After all, they want to sell advertising to people who spend a lot of time on the site, and they can’t do that if they upset everyone and people leave Facebook.
facebook lite sucks man…no quizez..no games…can see friends request nd most importantly cant accept my pending farmville gifts…i want to go back to the normal version of facebook…otherwise i’d delete my account..
Sachin says: Face Book lite jaam traas dete…. dokyala shot ahe… itka bhayankar shraap amalach kashala…!! deva… kay karu vada pav pan hajam nahn hot… naak pan tutla ahe..!! kamala bai ghari yete te pan bhaav nai det mala…. mi atmahatya karto… basanti i love u..!
tanuvir says: It aint a cookie thing and its foolish on part of facebook developers not to give an option of reverting back everyone from yahoo to msn gave it wen they changed over ….
Karun says: This new Lite version is totally out f mind……
i am unable to see games , my friend s games updates, applications, chatin……
then why this lite version hav been made…..plz revert it back to the older one…or tell us the procedure to g back to the older version…
You can not mess up with your users like this without an option to revert to previous version.
Brenda says: Try this link.
http://www.facebooknol.com/2009/09/27/how-to-switch-back-to-facebook-from-facebook-lite/
hey guys… i’ve been hittin my head against wall tryin to figure out how to get facebook regular back.. but no permanent stuff… one thing you can do is hit the “settings” button on the top right. it will take you to your account settings. and the stupidity i laughed at is that this page is the only page that appears in the regular format.. here you can access all the applications, notifications and all the available functions!
good luck.
Jay
sachin more says: thank you mitra, vachavlas!
nahitar ha Chris Pollette kahi kamacha nahi!
hey chris…wts the option to get bk to older version of fb if m not likin the lite version…pls respond asap…thanks…if thrs no way pls work out a way…i cn vouch fr it not many of my frnds are likin this beta version…we want old fb bk…pls help…!!!
Chris Pollette says: Hi Shefali,
HowStuffWorks.com isn’t related to Facebook in any way, so I have no control over whether Facebook Lite stays or goes, and I can’t make anyone’s Facebook pages go back to normal.
Also, from reading the feedback above, not much I’ve suggested to get Facebook back is working. I still haven’t seen anything on the matter from Facebook, nor from any other tech news outlets. Apparently it’s geographically limited to India (I’m inferring this from the comments above and on the Facebook comments site). Also, judging from the surge in traffic on this post, it only started a few days ago, though it could have been going on before Nithin told everyone over on Facebook to post here.
I’m sorry that this is still going on, and I hope you’ll find a swift resolution to it. As I said before, if I find anything out, I promise to post it here.
Sushant says: please find it out fast…..ma farmville….ma frnds requests are pending……
facebook lite really sucks…..it sucks…..
take us back to facebook normal…..pls….
kamal singh says: i am using facebook lite and am not at all happy with it so i request you to change my account to the normal version of facebook …….
hey i request u to remove facebook lite from my account….it sucks like hell…the original one was much much better thn this crab…
Chris Pollette says: New visitors, please read this comment. I’m going to break it down for you in bullet points:
1 ) I cannot (and did not) change your Facebook account to Facebook Lite.
2 ) I cannot change your Facebook Lite account back to Facebook.
3 ) This is because I do not work for Facebook. I write for HowStuffWorks.com. This is where you are now.
4 ) HowStuffWorks.com is not a part of Facebook. Facebook is not a part of HowStuffWorks.com.
5 ) If you want your Facebook Lite switched back to Facebook, you need to contact Facebook.
6 ) I cannot help you switch your Facebook Lite back to Facebook (yes, I know this is a repeat of an earlier point. People are still asking me to do it, and I can’t).
7 ) If you want to vent about Facebook Lite, feel free. But if you use profanity, the blog spam trap will catch the comment and it will not get posted. Therefore, keep it clean.
8 ) There is no guarantee that if you post here that anyone from Facebook will ever see your complaint. You’re much more likely to get help if you leave Facebook feedback at http://lite.facebook.com/feedback/ than you are on my blog.
9 ) I cannot change your Facebook Lite back to Facebook. Please contact Facebook to let them know of your concerns.
I’m really sorry that so many people are going through this and I honestly wish I had a solution for you. But since I don’t work for Facebook, I really don’t have any influence with them to get the changes you want made.
Chris Pollette says: I know it’s not much of an update, but the folks over at CNET’s Buzz Out Loud talked about this problem today, but apparently no one knows what’s causing it.
I’ll keep listening to see if anyone else can figure out what’s going on. Sorry I don’t know more.
i would like to deactvate facebooklite
and get my orignal facebook account
becuase i cannot get my all applications
i Hate facebook lite.. plz help me 
(
ritu sharma says: i hate facebook lite…………………………… there r no request in the home i cnt see my farmville gift………..plz help me…. i want regular facebook………………………..
Tracy V. Wilson says: Since most of the people in this thread need to get in touch with Facebook itself, here’s a link to Facebook’s help center:
http://www.facebook.com/help.php
Facebook is also providing this link to take people back to their regular Facebook view: http://www.facebook.com/home.php
We’ll certainly blog about new developments at Facebook in the future, and we hope the conversation is this active. But for now, we’re going to shut down comments on this post so the thread doesn’t turn into a rant. Thanks, everyone, for your input.
I’m in Ontario, Canada and I was able to get on it today. I just Googled it and clicked on the link.