Yesterday Facebook added live updates within its home page - an application that used to be part of the older Facebook, but got shelved in the redesigned version, reports Mashable.

In doing so, Facebook joins the race of social media sites trying to get information out the fastest. Twitter updates are so fast they occasionally report breaking news before major media outlets, and FriendFeed's interface now updates in real-time.

The live stream - which displayed friends’ Facebook activity as it occurred - was removed as part of Facebook's recent facelift, much to the chagrin of users who urged the site to re-implement real-time updates.

With some success, it seems. In the new version, Facebook's live stream isn't a new tab or section of the homepage, as it once was. Rather, a section under the update bar appears and asks whether you want to show new posts. As more updates occur, the number of new posts increases until you click on it. Once clicked, these new posts will appear.

Facebook's addition follows a general trend towards real-time in social media and the web at large, and apparently aims at providing the same service without overwhelming users with an endless, unavoidable stream of automatic live updates - a frequent complaint from users upon the launch the redesigned Facebook page.

The live stream rolls out updates in several cycles, meaning that it could be a few days until live streaming is available in your Facebook.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook made the homepage/profile stream (where users receive updates about the other users) available to third party developers.