Facebook Lite Open to Public!
Historical Context: This post captures a pivotal moment in social media evolution - the launch of Facebook Lite in 2009. At this time, mobile internet was still expensive and slow for most users, making lightweight alternatives essential. The author's excitement reflects how significant this was for users on limited connections.
It's official, Facebook Lite was opened up to the US public about 10 minutes ago.
This slimmed down version of Facebook is wonderful for those of us on slow internet connections (or tethering from our iPhones), this is a dream come true.
Technical Note: iPhone tethering in 2009 was extremely limited - AT&T didn't officially support it until later that year, and when available, it was costly with strict data caps. The reference to "slow internet connections" reflects the reality that broadband wasn't universal, and many users still relied on dial-up or early DSL.
Reminds me of the good ol' days, when I had to go to http://gmu.facebook.com to see my facebook friends.
Social Media Archaeology: The reference to "gmu.facebook.com" is fascinating - Facebook originally required college email addresses and had separate subdomains for each institution. George Mason University (GMU) was one of the early adopters when Facebook expanded beyond Harvard in 2004-2005. This nostalgic reference shows how quickly Facebook evolved from exclusive college networks to global platform.
Here you can see it in action:
