How to Poke a Friend on Facebook: Instructions + Dos & Don'ts

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Learn how to get your friend to see the "Your friend poked you!" message on Facebook

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Poking Your Friend

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Poking Etiquette

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Q&A

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Tips

"Poking" is a simple but addictive feature offered on Facebook. Poking your friends sends them an instant notification saying "(Your name) poked you." At this point, your friend gets the option to poke you back. Learning how (and when) to poke on Facebook just takes a minute or two, so open Facebook in another tab and follow along!

Quick Steps

Go to your pokes page on Facebook.
Find the friend you want to poke.
Click the Poke or Poke Back button to send your friend a poke.

Section 1 of 2:

Poking Your Friend

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1
Learn what poking is. Before you poke someone for the first time, it's nice to know exactly what you're doing. Poking a friend does the following:
- Sends your friend a notification saying "(Your name) poked you."
- Gives your friend the option to poke you back, dismiss the poke, or ignore it.
- Records the poke on your friend's poke page.
- Note: Each poke is only visible to whichever friend you poke. In other words, besides your friend, no one else can see the poke.
2
Go to your Facebook pokes page. From the pokes page, you can send new pokes as well as poke back friends who have poked you.^{[1]XResearch source}
- If you've been poking back and forth with a friend, this page will also show how many times in a row you've been poked.
- You could previously poke a friend from their profile, but all poking is now done via the pokes page.
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Use the buttons on the Poke page to poke your friends. If you are poking a friend who hasn't poked you, press the blue Poke button to start. Otherwise, you can click the Poke Back button to send a poke back to friends that have poked you.^{[2]XResearch source}

Section 2 of 2:

Poking Etiquette

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1
Do poke your friends to get their attention. The appeal of poking is a little hard to explain to someone who doesn't already "get it." Poking someone on Facebook is a little like poking the person in real life — it's always a way of getting someone's attention, but it can also mean lots of different things. You can tease people with pokes, let them know you're thinking of them, or get them to message you — it all depends on the context of the situation.
- Consider this: if two people who are attracted to each other poke each other late at night, does it mean the same thing as when two friends from school poke each other at noon, does it mean the same thing? Probably not.
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Don't poke constantly. This is probably the most important rule when it comes to Facebook pokes. While it's fine to get into the occasional poke-fight with your friends, you won't want to make a habit of poking people incessantly. It's annoying to log on and see a new notification only to discover it's a poke, so if you do this too much your friends may start ignoring your pokes.
3
Don't poke someone to get other people's attention. Keep in mind that when you poke someone, only the recipient can see it. Don't use pokes to try to embarrass people — no one else will be able to see what you're doing.
4
Don't poke people you don't know well. It's not at all uncommon to have Facebook "friends" that are distant acquaintances at best in the real world. While you can poke these people, it's not usually a good idea. It can be awkward to get pokes from people you aren't close to — it's a little like actually getting poked by someone you don't know well.

Community Q&A

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Question
How can I "un-poke" someone who I mistakenly poked?
Community Answer
Unfortunately, you can't "un-poke". Most people will just ignore a poke anyway.
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Question
Where is the poke page on Facebook?
Community Answer
Try going to your own wall then look on the left side. You should see lots of options and poke should be one of them.
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Question
What does it mean to be "hidden from timeline?"
Community Answer
If it is shown on their timeline, then it will show on the timeline in their account. If it is hidden from their timeline, it will not show up on their timeline and cannot be viewed by other people.
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