If you’ve spent any length of time on Facebook, you may have been “poked” by someone, or you may have wondered what it means to give someone else a poke. A poke is a small application on Facebook that is included with every account.
Sending a Poke on Facebook
There are a number of reasons to send pokes, both to your friends and to people who aren’t on your friends list, including:
- Just to say a quick “hello”
- To remind someone that you’re waiting on a reply or message from him or her
- To check in and see if a person has visited Facebook lately
- To let someone know you’re thinking of him or her
- Just for fun
How to Send Pokes
To poke someone:
- Go to their profile page.
- Find the “…” icon located on the cover photo of their profile.
- Select the “poke” option.
- A popup window will appear confirming that you have poked the person.
How to Tell If You Have Been Poked
If someone pokes you, you’ll receive a notification under the “world” icon for notifications on the blue menu bar on the right. If you click on that notice, you’ll be taken to a screen where you can choose a “Poke Back” option inside of a blue button with a hand icon. You will also see below that a list of suggested people to poke.
You can also delete the poke by clicking on the grey “x” to the right of the Poke Back button.
One thing to keep in mind is that you cannot poke the same person twice unless the individual has returned or removed your first poke.
Stopping Someone from Poking You
If you want to stop someone from poking you, you can block them by clicking on the question mark icon on the top right of the blue menu bar. Go to Privacy Shortcuts and choose the third option, “How do I stop someone from bothering me?” A screen will pop up where you can enter the person’s name or email address.
Sending Pokes from Your Phone
You can send a poke from your mobile phone in a similar way to using a desktop computer or laptop.
- From your Facebook app on the phone, go the person’s profile.
- Underneath their cover photo and name, you will see the vertical three dots on the far right.
- Tap on this to open a drop down menu.
- Select the “poke” option.
Poking Can Be Fun
If you’re still unsure about poking on Facebook, give it a try, or look under the Facebook Help section for more information on pokes. It can be fun to sign in and see how many of your friends have poked you back.
