Do you remember when Facebook was THE social media platform? You would use the website to write inside jokes on your friends walls, post statuses about what you ate for breakfast, and post over-edited pictures with cheesy quotes in the craziest fonts. It was my entire life back in middle school. However, the way I utilize Facebook nowadays is completely different from how I used it back when I was taking pre-algebra. Now I use Facebook for being up to date with events, posting pictures for my family, and keeping up with my friends from high school.
Even though I use Facebook in a more mature way now, I have always had one very important question.
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What was the point of poking someone?
When you really sit down and think about it, why was that even an option? For kicks and giggles? To nonchalantly remind someone that you have a Facebook? I don't think there was ever a legit explanation as to why the "poking" feature was included. Regardless of how pointless it was, I still used it. I want to say that I subconsciously poked people for different reasons. You probably did too!
Here are a few types of people you poked on Facebook.
1. Your best friend
I remember sitting at the computer with my best friend, giving her a side glance, and pressing the poke button. This started the infamous "poke war." It was a constant battle to see how fast one could poke back. While these "poke wars" were nothing but pointless, it was fun.
2. The boy you had a crush on
If you were too shy to actually talk to your crush in real life, then poking them on Facebook was perfect. Poking your crush would get your name out and show that you were low-key interested. While in actuality it never helped, it was fun to believe that it did.
3. Those family members you don't keep up with
It's not that you are trying to avoid them, (I mean I wouldn't judge you if you are) it's just that you never seem to have any free time to catch up with some of those distant relatives and second cousins. Instead of having conversations with awkward pauses and forced laughter, you decided to poke them on Facebook instead. This way they know that you're still around!
While the overall meaning of poking someone is unknown, it was fun to play around with the feature back in 2009. I'll always cherish those poke wars.
Wishing you the coveted title of poke war champion,
Tessa
