Facebook Says ‘Poking’ Is On The Rise, Updates The 20-Year-Old Feature

Image generated on AI

What does Facebook have that TikTok doesn’t? The “poke.” Remember it? Well, Mark Zuckerberg’s social network is dusting off one of its original features and giving it a modern twist in hopes of rekindling interest among users young and veteran.

Recalled fondly by early adopters as a quirky way to interact, the poke function is being polished with improved suggestions for who to nudge and streamlined access via search, making it easier than ever to send a digital hello.

Now, when you search for a friend on Facebook, you’ll be greeted with the option to poke them directly from the search results, simplifying the process. Look up “poke” using the search tool, and you’ll be led to the Pokes page, which shows who has nudged you in the past, as well as suggestions for who to pass this gesture on to.

According to the Meta-owned company, the resuscitation has supposedly led to a 13-fold increase in poking activity over the last month, a surge driven predominantly by—surprise, surprise—the 18 to 29 age group. This demographic accounts for over half of the recent pokes, suggesting that what was once an abandoned relic of Facebook’s infancy is finding a new lease on life among Gen Z and Millennials.

Introduced back in 2004, the poke feature was a staple of Facebook’s user experience but gradually faded into the background. Its purpose was never clearly defined, leading to a variety of uses, from a simple greeting to a playful flirt. Now, as Facebook gears up to celebrate two decades of connecting people online, it’s bringing the action back into the spotlight. 

“THE POKE IS HAVING A MOMENT,” Facebook announced on its Threads account. “So, be honest: who’s poking who?” (Editor’s note: Whom*.)

This push to revitalize the poke feature comes at a time when only 33% of teenagers have an active Facebook account, according to the Pew Research Center. By reimagining one of its classic social interactions that made it fun, Facebook aims to stay relevant and appealing to younger audiences, while reintroducing them to a slice of its heritage.

My friends and I have realized you can still poke people on Facebook pic.twitter.com/Tn1ykX2OUZ

— 💗Creepe Paper💗 (@CreepePaper) March 20, 2024

[via TechCrunch and Business Insider, images via various sources]