Back when Facebook only had millions of users instead of a billion, before Timeline and the bungled IPO and outrage over privacy issues, people "poked" each other on the social network. The poke, which is still around but rarely used, is a minimalistic form of communication -- the digital equivalent of a head nod or wink. Now the social network has expanded the poke into a stand alone iOS app, which was released on Friday. The simple free app, called Facebook Poke, allows you to send fleeting messages, pokes, photos and 10-second videos to Facebook friends. The messages expire after a set period of time, from 1 to 10 seconds, and cannot be retrieved by either party again. This makes the app perfect for sending salacious images without leaving a trail. Now the social network has expanded the poke into a standalone iOS app, which was released on Friday. The simple free app, called Facebook Poke, allows you to send fleeting messages, pokes, photos and 10-second videos to Facebook friends. The messages expire after a set period of time, from 1 to 10 seconds, and cannot be retrieved by either party again. This makes the app perfect for sending salacious images without leaving a trail."With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends to share what you're up to in a lightweight way," says Facebook in a blog post announcing the new app. "With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends to share what you're up to in a lightweight way," says Facebook in a blog post announcing the new app.When you open the app, you can choose from a set of icons at the bottom of the screen to send a poke, type a 120-character message, open the camera to snap a picture (you cannot choose an existing photo from your camera roll, but you can add fun doodles or text on top of the picture you do take), or shoot a 10-second video. Decide how long you want the other person to see your message or photo (1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds), add a location if you like, then choose one or more of your Facebook friends from the list and hit send.
More details: http://cnnmobile.com/primary/fullarticle?articleId=urn:newsml:CNN.com:20121222:facebook-poke-app:1&pagesize=10&category=tech&pageSize=10