To Poke Or Not To Poke, That Is The Question

I haven’t been ticklish for many years and believe me when I say, it is a lovely thing not to be ticklish! To add to the enjoyment of not being ticklish is that most everyone else is ticklish. (wicked evil laugh) So with a simple poke here and there on someone’s mid-section, I can reduce them to giggles. Obviously I’m bringing joy to the world.

What Does Poke Mean?

Let’s start with the basics…a definition that I think you will find totally interesting.

The definition of poke:

1. to jab or prod, as with the elbow, the finger, a stick, etc.
2. to make (a hole, opening, etc.) by or as by poking
3. to thrust (at)
4. Informal to hit with the fist; punch
5. to protrude or cause to protrude
6. to stir by poking
7. to meddle or intrude
8. to search or pry
9. to loiter, potter, dawdle, etc.
10. bite-size pieces of raw fish doused in seasonings
11. Slang – to have sex with

Poke has many definitions, so all the other words used in the sentence with poke will help you understand which meaning is intended.

What if there aren’t any other words in the sentence? What if poke is the full sentence?

What Does The Facebook Poke Mean?

There’s a feature on Facebook called Poke. It’s just a super tiny icon of a hand with a finger that looks like it is about to poke you.

According to Facebook, “The poke feature can be used for a variety of things on Facebook. For instance, you can poke your friends to say hello.”

As stated by Mark Zuckerberg during a live Facebook webinar, “When we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways, and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings.”

Apparently the Facebook poke can mean many things. You can poke someone to let them know it has been awhile since you’ve chatted or the poke could mean, “I think you are hot!” It sure leaves the door wide open for interpretation. Is that a good thing or bad thing?

How Do I Poke On Facebook?

I’m going to assume that since we all “LIKE” pages on Facebook, none of us are opposed to poking either. It sounds like we haven’t graduated from high school yet! However, many grown adults get into what is called poking wars and it is all in good fun. I guess the youthful spirit is still quite alive and kicking in the aging generation.

There are a couple ways to poke someone on Facebook.

• Go to the home page of your friend.
• On the far right side below the timeline photo, click the drop down next to the word “Message”
• A dropdown menu will appear.
• On the dropdown menu, click “Poke“

• After clicking poke, a box will pop up that states, “You have poked (insert your friend’s name here)”

The next way to poke is even easier than the first method.

• Go to your own main Facebook page.
• On the top right you will find the “Poke Suggestions”
• Beside each person is a “poke” button
• Click “poke” and the suggestion will disappear and at the same time, the person will be notified that they have been poked by you.

You Can’t Ever Poke Too Much

Let’s say you are at a friend’s page and decide to poke them. So you go to the dropdown menu and click poke.

However, instead of receiving confirmation that you poked the person, a message states, “(Insert your friend’s name) has not responded to your last poke.”

Facebook prevents you from poking someone again until they have poked you back.

After Facebook gives you a couple poke suggestions, a message appears that states, “There are no more suggestions.”

Don’t be fooled!

When you refresh the page, there will be more poke suggestions. Every time you refresh the page, you will keep seeing more poke suggestions! There’s no end to the amount of poking you can do!

So if you are feeling lonely or blue, poking is the best thing you can do for yourself because you will get poked back! Your Facebook page will be covered with pokes from the people that poked you and maybe even more from other people who are having a poking day to remember! I have so many pokes to reciprocate that I had to stop poking for awhile to rest and that’s a good thing!

Poking is one of the easiest ways to communicate. It is one word and one action that can range in meaning from you were being thought of sweetly, someone wants to be noticed by you, someone wishes they could poke their fist in your face or even that someone is feeling amorous. All of that is conveyed with just one word on Facebook!

Fantastic!

The poke means so much and yet can mean nothing!

By the way, I know that I have created yet another list with something about sex on it, but honestly, I can’t help it! Maybe I’m not trying that hard to avoid it either. (wink)

Do you like to poke?

I do!

Poke!