Making Your Way in the Online World

The Facebook poke app has been making a big splash on the web.

There are some really cool features, such as:

Facebook Poke app: Mark Zuckerberg is the voice behind the ‘poke’ audio alert …
New Delhi: There is one interesting fact about the newly launched Facebook Poke app that we think you all should know. According to TechCrunch, the voice that enounces ‘Poke’, whenever a user receives a push notification, is actually Zuckerberg’s voice.
ibnlive.in.com

Of course, many people aren’t sure yet what the app can do. This blog post from the Wall Street Journal helps break down some basics:

Facebook Rolls Out Poke App
The release of the Poke app comes as Facebook becomes more aggressive in releasing standalone mobile applications to compete with young startups. Several weeks ago, the social network rolled out a new chat messenger service that only requires a …
blogs.wsj.com

Remember the ‘good old days’ when Facebook pokes were new and novel? This new app and functionality takes things much, much further.

Facebook releases ‘Poke’ app
Facebook released a little holiday surprise Friday with a new messaging app called “Poke.” The name, of course, is a play off of Facebook’s “Poke” function, which has always been the network’s way of sending a digital wave. Now Facebook users can send …
www.washingtonpost.com

It’s already very popular. Reports have Poke as hitting the # spot for app downloads. That’s pretty impressive…yet not all that surprising since it comes from Facebook.

It’s A Facebook And Google World On Apple’s App Store, Poke Hits #1 A Day …
Remember all of this excitement hoopla over Facebook’s latest standalone app, Poke, yesterday? You aren’t the only one that is interested, apparently. As The Next Web reports, Poke by Facebook has hit the No. 1 free app spot on Apple’s App Store, just …
techcrunch.com

Many wonder how the Snapchat competitor is taking the news. Unfortunately for Snapchat, Facebook has a lot of marketing power and name power behind it. Had anyone even heard of Snapchat before Facebook rolled Poke out?

Facebook Launches Snapchat Competitor “Poke”, An iOS App For Sending …
Facebook has just announced its newest standalone app called “Poke” which lets people send photos, videos, pokes, or text Facebook messages to their friends that expire after a few seconds. The launch confirms AllThingsD’s report from earlier this month.
techcrunch.com

Poor Google Maps…

In less than a day, Facebook’s Poke displaces Google Maps as the App Store’s …
Facebook on Friday released a Snapchat-like app called Poke, which allows users to send private messages that expire after 1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds. Less than 24 hours later, it is already the number one most downloaded app on Apple’s marketplace, less …
thenextweb.com

There may be some kinks to work out, though. Mashable reports that the app may not be all its cracked up to be.

Facebook Poke App Is Frustrating as Hell
Facebook Poke: Startup Screen. Poke, the new iPhone app from Facebook, lets you send short messages, photos and videos to friends that automatically self destruct after a few seconds. If you have the Facebook app on your phone already, logging in is …
mashable.com

What do you think? Is there a use for this app or is it simply something new and shiny capturing people’s attention?