I was doing some research yesterday and stumbled across this question that people were asking.  What does it mean to be poked on Facebook?  I laughed out loud…a long time!  There were more than 1,000 people asking this question!

Well, it really is no mystery as to what “poking” on Facebook means.  It just means you poke them.  Just like if you walked up to someone at the grocery store and took your finger and poked them.  It’s a way of saying hello to your friends on Facebook.

Once you poke someone, they have the option of poking you back or ignoring your poke.  When I was growing up the guys would “swap licks” which meant they would take turns hitting each other in the arm with their fist until someone finally said “uncle!”  Poking can work in a similar fashion.  You poke someone, they poke you back, you poke them again, they poke you back….gets a little monotonous doesn’t it.

You can only poke a confirmed friend, so you can’t go around poking just anyone.  And can only poke you if your account is confirmed.  Someone poked me several weeks ago, but I didn’t respond, so it’s still on my home page that I have been poked.  I can choose to ignore it, which I have obviously done, or I can remove it, which I will probably do.

And just to clarify conformed means that you have to confirm the email address that you set your Facebook account up with and that will enable you to send messages, write on your friends’ Walls, post in discussions, poke, tag your friends, comment, join groups, and fan pages, and basically use your account to it’s fullest.

I guess it could be fun to poke someone, but I really don’t know why.  If I want to say Hi, I’ll just go to their Wall or send them a private message and say Hi!  But for the thousands of people who have been anxious to get the real story on poking…you have it now.    And please don’t poke me, I have tender arms!

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Want to send a message to your friends on Facebook, but don’t know how? Here are simple steps to help you send messages through your Facebook Inbox and other helpful tips for sending messages in Facebook.

• Type the person’s name into the Search box at the upper right of any Page. When the search results are returned, click on the “Send a Message” link to the right of the result. A box will open to type in the subject and message. When finished, click “Send.”
  
• Open the Inbox and click on “Compose” the same box will open to type the specifics of your message
• To learn how to send a private message on Facebook, visit my YouTube Channel to view a short video where I walk you through the entire process.

Here are other tips to help with sending messages on Facebook:

• You can message up to 20 friends per message
• If you have a Group or Fan Page, you can send to all of your Group Members or Fans with one message
• Users can receive messages from anyone on Facebook, regardless if you are friends or not. To avoid this, go to Settings/Privacy/Search and under “Search Result Content” uncheck the box for “A link to send me a message.”
• Photos, videos and links can be attached to messages
• The Inbox is not intended for “live” conversations. The Chat option can be used for instant messaging others on Facebook
• Be careful of promoting a product or service or any type of advertising to your friends through the Inbox as it is considered spam and against Facebook policies
• The Inbox has search features for finding messages by sender, keywords, recipients or Friend Lists
• You can manage your Inbox notifications by going to Settings/Account Settings/ Notifications. Here you can select which information you would like to see in your Personal Email Account. For example, if you use Microsoft Outlook for your email management, you will receive an email each time you get a message in your Facebook Inbox. You can uncheck this notification to stop those emails from going to Outlook.

The Facebook Inbox is a great communication tool when used properly. It is just another alternative for connecting with your online friends and business contacts.