Home
Apps
Apps News
Facebook Is Trying to Bring Back Pokes Playing on the 2010s Nostalgia

Facebook Is Trying to Bring Back Pokes Playing on the 2010s Nostalgia

Facebook said it is now making it easier to Poke your friends via the mobile app.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 5 September 2025 17:59 IST

Facebook Is Trying to Bring Back Pokes Playing on the 2010s Nostalgia

Photo Credit: Facebook

Facebook has never explained the purpose behind Poking someone

Highlights

Pokes used to be a big trend on Facebook in the 2010s
Facebook has now created a dedicated page for Pokes
Users can also see how many times they have “Poked” a friend

Facebook wants its users to poke each other again. Not literally, but the feature Poke, which was a massive trend in the 2010s. Over time, the feature, however, lost its appeal, and the user base collectively stopped “poking” each other. However, the Meta-owned social media platform recently shared a post highlighting that Pokes are making a comeback, and that now it is easier to Poke friends and keep tabs on how many times users have used the feature on a particular friend.

Pokes are Back on Facebook

In the 2010s, Facebook was a much more experimental and quirky platform compared to today. It also had several features that were used very differently from how it was intended. Features such as Notes were designed as a micro-blogging and journaling space, but were used as chain quizzes and famous “25 things about me” posts.

Similarly, the Check-In feature was created to let users share the locations of restaurants and concerts, but users quickly began using it for humour tagging places such as “Checked-in at: the toilet” or “Checked-in at: Hell with Satan”.

Meta Introduces Stringent Measures Against 'Unoriginal' Facebook Content

Poke was one such feature. Facebook never explained the purpose of the feature, with its support page still describing it as “People can poke their friends on Facebook. When you poke someone, they'll get a notification.” But during the 2010s, the feature became popular among users, and many began using it as a way to nudge, annoy, or even flirt with others. Users would also keep streaks, making sure to “Poke back” as soon as they received the notification.

However, by the end of the decade, the feature lost its popularity, and people were not really using it anymore. Now, in 2025, Facebook is trying to bring back the trend. In a post on Instagram, the social media company said, “Pokes never really left, but they're making a comeback in a major way.”

The company is now adding a Poke button to the profile of users, next to the Messages button. Users can only see this button on profiles of people with whom they are friends, and cannot send a Poke to strangers. The company has also created a dedicated page, which you can find here, which keeps tabs on all the Pokes received by a user. It also shows the number of times one has been poked, allowing users to maintain a streak.

But will these new changes be enough to revive a dead trend? We will have to wait and see.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Facebook, Facebook Pokes, Facebook features, Apps

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Chief Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More

NFT Trading Rose to New High in August Even as Sales Dipped: Report

Facebook Is Trying to Bring Back Pokes Playing on the 2010s Nostalgia

Pokes are Back on Facebook

Related Stories