The Poke feature on Facebook was once a popular way for users to interact with their friends on the platform. It allowed users to send a virtual “poke” to another user, which would show up as a notification on the receiving end. However, in recent years Facebook has scaled back the feature significantly. So did Facebook remove the Poke feature completely? Let’s take a closer look.
The History of the Poke Feature
Facebook first introduced the Poke feature back in 2007. At the time, it was meant to be a quick and easy way for friends to say hello or get each other’s attention on the platform. When you poked someone on Facebook, they would receive a push notification alerting them of the poke. They could then poke you back if they wanted.
In the early days of Facebook, the Poke feature was incredibly popular. It was an easy way for users, especially young people, to interact with their friends in a casual manner. Poking someone was akin to poking your real-life friend on the shoulder to say hi when you walk past them in school. It was meant to mimic real-life interactions.
Here is a brief timeline of when poke was introduced and how it evolved over the years:
December 2007
– Facebook introduces the poke feature
2009
– At its peak, over a billion pokes were sent per day on Facebook
2012
– Facebook begins scaling back the poke feature as usage declines
2014
– Facebook removes poke from the main app navigation menu on mobile
As you can see, usage of the poke feature peaked around 2009 and then began to rapidly decline. Facebook recognized this and started pulling back on the feature while focusing attention on new products and capabilities.
The Decline of the Poke Feature
There are several reasons why the poke feature lost so much steam after its initial burst in popularity:
- The novelty wore off – It was a new, exciting way to interact at first, but then just became old and tired
- Changing user base – As Facebook’s demographics shifted over the years, newer users did not have the same nostalgia for poke
- Trouble interpreting pokes – Some people found it hard to tell if a poke meant “saying hello” or something more flirtatious
- Notifications got crowded – As more features were added, poke notifications got lost in the mix
- Less need for attention-grabbing – With news feeds, chat, etc people did not have to use poke to say hello
Essentially, what was once a novel way to interact on Facebook became just another outdated feature as the platform and its users continued to evolve. The majority of users simply stopped poking each other and Facebook usage patterns shifted away from casual social interactions.
Facebook Removes Poke from Main Navigation
In 2014, Facebook removed the Poke option from the main navigation bar in the mobile apps. This means new users would likely not even know the feature exists, while existing users have to dig into the options to find it.
Here is a comparison of the Facebook mobile navigation before and after poke was removed:
Before 2014
| Home | Notifications | Friend Requests | Messages | Poke | More |
After 2014
| Home | Notifications | Watch | Marketplace | Groups | Menu |
As you can see, poke was replaced by shortcuts to other features Facebook wanted to promote instead. This change meant poke was buried away in the “More” section, making it much less visible for daily use.
Limitations Imposed on the Poke Feature
In addition to removing poke from the main navigation, Facebook also imposed other limits that reduced the feature’s utility:
- Limited number of pokes – Facebook capped how many pokes a user could send or receive per day
- Poke backs removed – Users could no longer poke back their friends quickly
- Restricted to friends only – Poke can now only be used between confirmed friends on Facebook
These limitations reduced the viral nature of poking and made it much more difficult to use the feature for fun interactions. It went from a way to say hi to strangers or new connections to only being useful among close friends. This greatly narrowed its potential use cases.
Poke Limits Imposed by Facebook Over Time
| Year | Poke Limit |
|---|---|
| 2009 | No limit |
| 2012 | Limited to 20 per day |
| 2014 | Limited to 10 per day |
| 2018 | Limited to 5 per day |
These increasing limitations made poke more frustrating and less fun to use when catching up with friends. The viral spread was essentially eliminated.
You Can Still Poke Friends on Facebook
Despite all the limitations, it is still possible to poke your Facebook friends in 2023! The feature has not been removed entirely, it has just been severely scaled back.
Here is how you can still poke on Facebook currently:
- Open the Facebook app on your phone or go to www.facebook.com on your browser
- Go to your friends list or search for the friend you want to poke
- On their profile, click on the 3 dots icon next to the Message button
- Choose Poke from the menu that pops up
- The friend will now receive a poke notification!
So the feature still exists, even if usage has declined significantly. You can poke your close friends if you want to say a quick hello or get their attention. However, the viral poke chains and poke wars of the past are basically gone.
Why Facebook Has Not Removed Poke Entirely
This brings up the question – why has Facebook bothered keeping poke around at all? There are a few possible reasons:
- Nostalgia factor – Long-time users still enjoy it
- Something familiar for original user base
- Minimal engineering effort to maintain
- Always chance of resurgence one day
In short, poke is not doing any real harm to the platform by still existing. A small subset of users may still enjoy it for nostalgia’s sake. And Facebook keeps metrics on all user activity, so if they ever saw a renewed interest in poke, they could promote it again.
The Future of the Poke Feature
Given the long-term decline in poke usage, it seems unlikely that Facebook will ever put much attention on the feature again. However, there are a couple possible futures that could unfold:
Poke Fades Into Obscurity
This is the most likely outcome. Facebook stops talking about poke. Less and less people use it over time as old-school users become inactive. Eventually almost no one is poking at all. One day, Facebook finally decides to remove the feature entirely.
Poke Gets a Revival
Maybe in some future retro social media trend, poke starts making a comeback. Nostalgic users bring it back as a fun throwback. Enough traction builds that Facebook decides to give poke a promoted spot again. Unlikely, but possible if the right viral movement occurred.
Poke Gets Replaced by Something New
Facebook introduces an all-new feature that essentially replaces poke. This allows them to build something modern while also scratching that itch of a quick way to interact with friends and say hello. If this occurs, poke would probably be retired for good.
Conclusion
In the end, Facebook has severely scaled back the poke feature over the years but has not removed it completely. A tiny fraction of nostalgic users may still enjoy poking friends for fun. However, the poke wars and viral sensation that existed in the late 2000s and early 2010s is likely gone forever.
Unless some major revival occurs, poke will probably continue its slow fade into obscurity before eventually getting removed by Facebook down the road. But for now, it still barely hangs on as an echo of Facebook’s past.