Facebook Lite gets reactions; special camera effects for Indian users

Facebook has added a couple of new features to Facebook Lite, a stripped-down version of its mobile app aimed at markets with slow connectivity. At its “Facebook: A Place to Connect” event organised in New Delhi, the social networking giant announced rolling out Reactions - an extension of the Like button - on Facebook Lite. The company is also introducing local camera effects designed for India that includes geofilters and special greetings.

“India is a very important country to Facebook, and we’re proud to have more than 184 million monthly active people in India who use Facebook to connect with their friends and family and to build supportive communities online and offline”, the company said in a statement.

Launched more than a year ago, the Reaction tool lets you be more expressive beyond traditional 'like' button. This means you will now have more options — which include Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry — to react to the posts appearing on your timeline. Since the global roll out of Facebook Reactions, there have been 300 billion reactions on Facebook posts. The most popular reaction is Love, making up more than half of all of the reactions.

Also, with a push towards augmented reality, the company has designed several custom effects for India — such as the expression of Namaste as well as geo-specific experiences in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, and other places. “We continue to make improvements to these products so people in India can connect,” Facebook added.

The event also shed light on Facebook 's other products such as Live, 360 Photos, Groups, Events, Oculus, Instagram, and WhatsApp among others. The social network will be organising a social gathering of sorts for Facebook Group admins at the Communities Summit later in June this year.

As per official event website, at the conference, "You’ll hear from Facebook executives about new products we’re building to help admins grow and manage their groups. You’ll have an opportunity to participate in workshops and give the Facebook team real-time feedback on what will make groups better for you. And you’ll get to meet other admins from across the country who are building remarkable communities through groups."