Gather round, young ‘uns, because you mightn’t remember how we social media elders started out. When using Facebook became popular around 15 years ago, you’d often receive a notification informing you that you have received a virtual Poke.
Sometimes it was a sort of “hey, thinking of ya!” from folks you haven’t spoken with in a while. Other times it could have been a reminder – a prod – from the impatient asking “hey, why haven’t you replied to my message or responded to my wall post?”
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Perhaps most often, it was used for flirting. It was a playground-esque playful push of a person you fancied. This was way before swiping right on a person when using a dating app just outright told them you fancied them. Millennials played it a little more coyly than Gen-Z.
However, times have moved on and in the 2020s going around poking people – even virtually – isn’t really considered the done thing. And the almighty swipe gesture has since removed all mystery from the digital courtship.
However, the old Poke has received a new lease of life, and Facebook is here for it.
In a post on Threads, the company revealed there has been a 16x uptick in poking over the last month. Users are once again being poked left right and centre. Gen-Z is even getting in on the act now, with the majority of new Pokes being spent out by 18-29 year olds, Facebook says. Amazing. This is almost like that time they all discovered what cassette tapes were.
Facebook writes: “THE POKE IS HAVING A MOMENT. There’s been a 13x spike in poking on Facebook in the past month. So, be honest: who’s poking who?”
So why? Well, as TechCrunch recently reported, there has been a design change at Facebook that pushes the Poke button to a more visible place within the UI. Poking never went away, it appears, it was just harder to find.
