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Remember the Poke button?

For anyone on Facebook in the 2000s, you probably remember Poking as a way to flirt, annoy, joke with, or just casually say “hi” to a Friend.

The Poke button has been around ever since—but it receded into the background of the interface. Now, Facebook is experimenting with changes that give the engagement method more prominence. Because of this, Poking may be catching on once again.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook announced a few changes that aimed to give the Poke more prominence:

• Improved the platform’s suggestions on who to poke

• Made it easier to find the poking page through search (it’s here, by the way: https://www.facebook.com/pokes)

• Added the ability to poke a friend when you search for them

This change led to 13x more Pokes month-over-month—with most of the increase coming from 18- to 29-year-olds (the elusive Gen Z). Poking is likely to be a new feature to this crowd.

Why it Matters

At least for now, Poking isn’t a feature that most brands should likely be paying much attention to. That said, any trend that shows an increase in engagement from younger users is important news for Facebook.

Is Meta is starting to narrow in on strategies to attract the TikTok generations back to Facebook?

Learn more:

• How to Poke (Facebook Help)

• Pokes Page

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