Update: As of April 20, 2010, Facebook Lite is no more. Sigh.

http://www.facebook.com/facebook?v=wall&story_fbid=110629035639137

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If you think the new Facebook News Feed is too little and the Live Feed is too much, then Facebook Lite may be juuuusssst right.

I wrote about Facebook Lite when they first launched it in September. At the time, I wasn't too inclined to use it because I was pretty happy with the old regular Facebook interface and there were a couple of limitations with the Lite version that I didn't like (e.g. you can't post Links to other sites on it, although you can see ones that have been posted through regular Facebook).

However, now that I'm not so happy with the regular interface, I'm reconsidering, especially since there's a new Lite feature that helps solve the other problem. They've now added an option where you can add a link to the top of your Facebook page that lets you easily switch back and forth between the two versions. So now if I want to post a link (and anyone who knows me knows I post a LOT of links!), I can switch to regular Facebook to post it and switch back to the less cluttered feed.

You can only choose this setting from within Facebook Lite, so here's how to do it:

• Go to lite.facebook.com.
• Click the Settings icon (small wrench) at the top of the page.
• Click Default site.
  
  The radio buttons let you choose which of the two versions is your default, meaning which one will appear when you type "www.facebook.com" in your browser. To get the links to switch back and forth, check the box.

  Note: Theoretically, the links should appear when you check the box, regardless of which radio button is selected. However, it didn't work for me unless I chose Facebook Lite as my default. This means that you'll only be able to get to regular Facebook by going to Lite first, then using the link to switch back. Hopefully that's a temporary bug...

The nice thing about the Lite version is that it doesn't filter out any of your friend's posts, like regular News Feed does, but it eliminates a lot of the noise people don't like, like the "X became a fan of Y" notices. And, unlike with setting Status Updates as your default view, as I mentioned here, you'll still get to see any photos, links, etc. that your friends are sharing. (Bonus: It also eliminates that annoying "Tell your friend she needs more friends" suggestion box that appeared with the recent changes.)

So this still may not be the ideal option, but at least it is an option. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Good? Bad? Incredibly stupid? :) Add your comments below.

Posted in Facebook, How To, Social Media