Do you remember the function of poke on Facebook? In the early days of the platform it was a fairly used feature. No, not the Hawaiian dish. The poke in English it is the tap you would give someone for attract his attention. What this feature does is just notify the other person that you have sent them a poke. It can be a greeting or a tease. Or more simply a notification to let you know that someone has thought of you.
The very childish function slowly lost its appeal and was hidden, until a brief return in 2017 when it was once again included in users’ profiles. It must not have been very successful as it then disappeared again. But now Facebook says there has been a surge in usage. 13 times more than usual!
This increase should actually be surprising up to a certain point, given that Facebook, which avoids saying it in the message published above, has re-introduced the button for poke directly into user search.
At the moment, however, it doesn’t seem to work for all apps or worldwide.
The interesting thing, as Business Insider reports, is that the increase is concentrated for over 50% in the age group of the new Gen Z (18-29 years). We’re not sure if this can really make Facebook more interesting to younger people, but what is certain is that the death of Facebook has been announced many times and it is still one of the most used platforms ever. Apparently also from some young people.
How can I send a poke?
Even though Facebook’s new implementation isn’t yet available to everyone, you can still send pokes to your friends, even if the functionality is a bit hidden. You can find it at www.facebook.com/pokes. Here you can send pokes to friends or see when they last poked you and reply as a new poke.
And you will automatically be teleported to 2009.
