You open Facebook, see a little notification, and it says a friend has poked you. Perhaps you have not thought about it since 2008. Perhaps you are younger and have never seen it at all. Either way, you are probably asking the same thing: what is a poke on facebook, and why would anyone send one? The short answer is that it is a tiny, wordless nudge between friends. The longer answer is a bit more interesting, so let us go through it.

We will cover what a poke is, where it came from, whether it still exists, how to send or ignore one, what it means socially, and what to do if you would rather not receive them. We have checked this against reputable reporting. Facebook’s own help pages block automated reading, so where we could not confirm a detail from the source, we say so.

What is a poke on Facebook?

A poke is a one-tap message with no words in it. You press a button next to a friend’s name, and they get a notification saying you poked them. That is all it does. There is no text, no photo and no reply box. The only thing the other person can do is poke you back or dismiss it.

Facebook has never given the poke a clear job. The Wikipedia entry on the feature quotes Facebook as saying, in a 2007 article in The Guardian, that “when we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose.” You can read that on the Wikipedia page about the Facebook poke. In other words, the meaning is whatever you and your friend decide it is.

You will also hear it called a “facebook poke” or just “a poke”. They all mean the same thing.

A short history of the poke

The poke has been around since the early days of the site. Android Authority reports that Facebook introduced it when the platform launched in 2004, as a casual way to get someone’s attention. Each poke sent the other person a notification.

Over time it lost its shine. According to the same article, interest faded after 2011, when some people found pokes annoying or intrusive, and Facebook took the button off profile pages. It never vanished completely, though. It stayed on its own page. Here is the timeline, as best we can confirm it:

• 2004: the poke arrives with Facebook in its earliest days.
• 2007: Facebook describes it in The Guardian as a feature with no specific purpose.
• 2011 onwards: the poke becomes less visible and less used.
• December 2017: according to Wikipedia, the button moves to a more prominent place on profiles, alongside quick actions such as a hug, wink and high-five. We could not confirm this from a second source, so treat it as reported rather than certain.
• March 2024: Meta says it has made the poke page easier to find through search, and simpler to poke people after finding them. TechCrunch reports that Meta saw a 13x spike in poking the following month.
• September 2025: TechCrunch reports that Meta has given the poke a more central role again.

The most recent chapter is the surprising one. A feature many people thought was dead has had a second life, particularly among younger users who had never come across it. TechCrunch’s report, Facebook is trying to make pokes happen again, describes the shift well.

Does the Facebook poke still exist?

Yes. Anyone asking what is a poke on facebook today will find that pokes still exist, and by every recent report we found, Facebook has been making them easier to use rather than phasing them out. Meta has not said much about its reasons. TechCrunch connects it to a wider effort to appeal to younger people.

One thing to know: you can only poke people who are your Facebook friends, according to Android Authority. You cannot poke a stranger.

Features move around on Facebook, and the menus differ between phone and computer, so if the steps below do not match what you see, search for “pokes” inside the app and follow what it shows you.

How to find and send a poke

There are two simple routes, based on the steps described by SlashGear and Android Authority.

On a computer

1. Go to facebook.com/pokes in your browser, or type “pokes” into the Facebook search bar and press enter.
2. You will see a list of friends. Next to each name is a blue Poke button.
3. Click it, and your friend gets a notification.

On the phone app

1. Tap the search icon and type “pokes”.
2. Open the Pokes result.
3. Tap the Poke button next to a friend’s name, or Poke Back if they have poked you.

SlashGear also describes a Pokes page that shows who has poked you and how many times you have poked each other. Their guide to finding the Facebook poke is a useful extra if you get stuck.

What happens when you poke someone?

Quite little, which is the point. Here is what we can confirm.

• The other person gets a notification that says you poked them.
• On their Pokes page, your name shows up with a button to poke you back.
• They can poke back, or dismiss it without replying.
• Each back-and-forth adds to a running poke count between the two of you.

That last one is worth knowing. TechCrunch notes that as the count climbs, small icons, such as a fire emoji or the number 100, appear next to a friend’s name. It works like the streaks on Snapchat and TikTok, which the same article says have attracted criticism over addictive design. That does not mean pokes are harmful, but it does explain why some people feel they have to keep a run going.

Android Authority says an unanswered poke disappears after two days. We could not confirm that on a Facebook page, so do not rely on it. If you want to be sure, dismiss the poke yourself.

What does a poke mean socially?

There is no official answer, and that is why it can feel awkward. When people ask what is a poke on facebook really saying, the honest reply is that it depends on who sent it. Here are the most common meanings people give it:

• A friendly hello. “I am thinking of you, but I do not have anything to say.”
• A way of getting someone’s attention without writing a message.
• A bit of fun between old friends, often with a running joke.
• A nudge to say “reply to my message”.
• A flirty signal. This is the one that gave the poke its reputation, and it is why you will find plenty of jokes about it online.

Our tip is to read it by the sender. A poke from your cousin is almost certainly just a hello. A poke from a near-stranger you met once is more of a mystery, and you can ignore it without any fuss. You are never obliged to poke back.

If you are poking someone, a good rule is to do it only with people who would find it funny. A quick message is usually clearer and kinder than a poke when you want to say something real, particularly if the other person is a customer, a colleague or someone you do not know well.

How to stop or avoid pokes

If you do not want pokes, you have a few choices. None of them is dramatic.

• Ignore them. A poke does nothing unless you act on it, and you can dismiss it from the Pokes page.
• Do not poke back. A streak needs two people.
• Block the person if they are bothering you. Blocking stops them from sending you pokes, along with everything else. SlashGear mentions this as the one sure way.
• Check your notification settings. We could not find an official setting that switches off poke notifications on their own, and none of the sources we read describe one. You can, however, adjust which notifications you receive overall from Facebook’s settings.
• Tighten your friends list. Because only friends can poke you, a quick tidy-up removes the problem at its source. Our social media audit template includes a check on the people you are connected to, and it is a good time to do it.

If a poke feels like harassment rather than a joke, for instance because someone keeps sending them after you have asked them to stop, block them and report them through Facebook’s reporting tools. That is a safety matter, not an etiquette one.

Privacy: who can see your pokes?

Once you know what is a poke on facebook, the next worry is privacy. Pokes are private between you and the other person. They are not posted on your timeline, and they do not appear in your friends’ feeds as far as we can tell. We could not find an official privacy statement that says exactly how long Facebook keeps poke records, so we will not guess.

What is worth remembering is the poke count. The Pokes page keeps a tally of how often you have poked each other, so a poke is not completely anonymous. It leaves a trace between the two of you.

A few sensible habits apply here, as with anything on Facebook:

• Keep your friends list to people you actually know.
• Review who can see your profile in your privacy settings.
• Do not click links from strangers who “poke” you through messages or emails. Real pokes arrive as Facebook notifications. A message or email saying you have been poked, with a link to click, is worth treating with suspicion.

This is general information, not security advice. If you think an account has been hacked, go to Facebook’s help centre rather than clicking links in a message.

Related Facebook features you may be confusing it with

The poke sits in a family of small gestures that let people interact without writing anything. Here is how they differ.

• Reactions: the like, love, laugh and similar buttons on a post. They are public on the post, and they respond to something you shared.
• Friend requests: you ask to connect. A poke only works once you are already connected.
• Messages: a proper conversation in Messenger. Better than a poke if you actually have something to say.
• Snapchat streaks: a similar idea on a different app, where a daily exchange keeps a count going. TechCrunch draws the comparison with pokes.

A poke is not something we would use for business marketing. Reaching customers works better with useful posts and replies. If you are setting up a Page for your team, our guide on how to add admin to Facebook Page will help you give the right people access.

Why people still talk about it

The facebook poke is a small piece of internet history. It came from a time when social networks were new and nobody was quite sure what to do with them. It has outlived many features that had a clear purpose, and that probably says something about how people use social media. Sometimes we do not want to say anything. We just want to know someone is there.

For businesses, there is a gentle lesson in it. Tiny, easy interactions get used. If your audience can respond with a single tap, more of them will. That is worth remembering when you plan your own content. If you are working out what good response rates look like, our look at social media benchmarks UK gives realistic figures to measure against.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean when someone pokes you on Facebook?

It means they pressed a button to get your attention. There is no official meaning, so it could be a hello, a joke or a flirt. Reading it by who sent it is the safest approach.

Can you still poke someone on Facebook?

Yes. The poke still exists, and Meta has recently made it easier to find. You can poke people who are your Facebook friends.

Where do I find pokes on Facebook?

Go to facebook.com/pokes on a computer, or search for “pokes” in the Facebook app. Menus change, so use the search bar if you cannot see it.

Can someone see that I have seen their poke?

We could not find an official statement on this. What is clear is that the Pokes page shows a count between you. If you are unsure, dismissing the poke is the quiet option.

How do I stop someone poking me?

Ignore or dismiss the pokes, or block the person if it bothers you. We could not find a setting that switches off pokes alone.

Is a poke flirting?

Sometimes, but not necessarily. Between friends it is mostly a joke or a hello. If you are unsure, a plain message is clearer than a poke.

So, to sum up: what is a poke on facebook? It is a small, silent nudge that has survived for two decades, and it is back in the spotlight. You can poke back, ignore it or block it, whichever feels right.

If you would like help with your Facebook presence, from setting up your Page to planning content, Delivered Social would be pleased to help. Feel free to contact us for a friendly chat.