What does it mean when someone "pokes" you on Facebook?

The "poke," a content-free tool for getting a user's attention on Facebook, has had it's meaning debated since it was introduced at the inception of the social media website on Feb. 4, 2004. Context plays a large factor when interpreting the meaning of a specific poke.

At the most basic level, a poke is a request for attention from a person. When a user pokes a second user, the second user receives a notification of the poke. How the receiving user of the poke interprets the gesture, though, is largely determined by the relationship of the two users. Slate magazine suggests "poking" is a method for indicating romantic interest in another party, although this is only one of many contexts for the poke.