Poking is stupid… and genius
In the beginning, we had to stop by someone’s house to talk with them. Then we could write a letter. Then we could call. After that, we could send an IM. Then we could text-message them.
When it comes to socializing, people are always very conscious of how much of themselves they “lay on the line.” Think of the “six days” rule in Swingers, where calling someone too soon after meeting them made you seem “eager.” Writing a girl a hand-written letter is pretty bold. Perhaps the opposite of this would be sending her a txt message. Because of the nature of the format, you don’t even need to commit to sentences - or even accurate spelling. Facebook has taken this to the extreme with “pokes.” Here, you don’t even need to use words or even commit to a statement. Just a poke. You’re not risking anything. When comparing it to physically visiting someone at their house, it’s safe.
The profile world (facebook, myspace, bolt, etc) seems to be the ultimate “safe” medium. As an alternative to keeping in touch with people by contacting them, we can simply leave something that others can come across if they wish.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the use of site’s like Facebook for keeping in touch with people. I think it’s interesting, however, that each iteration in this progression of socializing tools allows for more “safety” than the previous version. The most successful ones seem to support a certain level of insecurity that is inherently present when you rope that many people together. Facebook has proven their understanding of this with their “poke” system, and it’ll be interesting to see what else happens. Will the GPS in phones someday let us see a real-time map of where our friends are? Who will choose to make their location “visible” to their contacts network? Will it be creepy to meet someone where they’ve posted their location to be? Will it be like calling someone before 6 days have passed?
February 9th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
[...] This is a brilliant idea, and is another example of Facebook really understanding the type of communication that their network fosters. It extends the idea of poking, which was the start of a new “safe” method of contacting someone. In other words, if I want to contact someone, a poke is risk free. I don’t have to commit to a phone call (where my voice is on the line), I don’t have to commit to an email (where my words are on the line), and I don’t have to commit to a text message (where my message needs to be justified). To many Facebookers, a poke is the most casual way to let someone know that you’re thinking about them… until now. [...]