Now, in this world where the mantra for many Web users is "Speed, Speed and More Speed," why would megasite Facebook institute a policy that will slow down its pages?

The tradeoff is security, reports TechCrunch.

According to the article, it’s got to do with Facebook rolling out a security system called HTTPS for all of its users.

Says TechCrunch, "[P]rotecting people who use the default settings is why this is an admirable decision by Facebook. Its priority is security. It might not be as sexy as blazing speed, but a hacked user is an unhappy user. Lots of people access Facebook from public wi-fi and public computers. Persistent HTTPS makes sure they’re not getting snooped on.

"Facebook could have kept HTTPS as opt-in. Faster browsing leads to less frustration, longer session lengths, and more ad views. Unfortunately, the people who are the least security savvy and therefore most vulnerable are probably the least likely to voluntarily enable HTTPS."

The story adds: "People who aren’t too concerned with their security might not be too excited about getting switched to HTTPS. And if they insist their connection is secure and want to browse Facebook as fast as possible, the company confirmed to me that they’ll have the option to opt out of HTTPS through their Account Security settings."