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 poket 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!
Learn more social media tips and find useful resources on Terri’s Facebook Fan Page
This powerful medicinal plant has a battery of regional names: pokeweed, scoke, poocan, garget, pigeon berry, pigeon-blood, poke-salat, cancer root, and cancer jalap. Its Latin name, Phytolacca, refers to the family it belongs to: phyto, meaning plant, and lac, meaning a crimson dye; americana speaks for itself, identifying the species as a native. This widely spread perennial grows from Maine to Florida and Mexico, and across the West, except in the Dakotas.
Mature poke plants, multi-branched with ruby-red stalks and stems in late summer, can grow up to ten feet tall. Earlier, small flowers appear in long, often curving or drooping spires. Each tiny greenish-white, petal-like sepal ripens into a purple-black, fleshy berry Songbirds favor the ripe, dark purple berries and excrete the fertile black seeds indiscriminately, thus assuring a wide distribution for this amazing herb. After killing frosts arrive, it dies back to the ground.
Poke’s genus embraces about twenty-five species of coarse herbs, shrubs, and treelike perennials native to the tropics and warm regions. The Brazilian species, Phytolacca dioica, is an evergreen tree that can grow to sixty feet tall and develop a thick trunk. Two East Asian species, P. acinosa and P. esculenta, are grown as ornamentals and potherbs. American poke is one of our most rugged, enduring herbs, with many historical and contemporary uses.
Traditional uses:
American Indians made use of all plant parts in their specific seasons of optimum strength. Throughout the winter, even year-round, the often-huge taproots, fresh or dried, were pounded and poulticed on wounds, tumors, bruises, rheumatic swellings, and sore breasts. Poke root was vital in many cancer and diabetes remedies.
Poke Root tea served to treat rheumatism, arthritis, and other joint infirmities; the warm tea was helpful as a skin wash to treat bruises, swellings, and sprains. Many believed this spring tonic was also a powerful preventive medicine.
Young spring shoots of American poke provided delicious, asparagus-like greens for our ancestors, and still do for us. When only six inches high, they are easily collected and stewed as a potherb. The cooking water should be brought to a boil and poured off at least once to discard the dark, bitter elements.
The plant’s simple, ovate, alternate leaves exude bright green ink when crushed or rubbed. Crushed pokeberries yield one of nature’s most brilliant magenta colors. Exciting ranges of inks and dyes come from some of the poke species, but unfortunately they are not sun-fast. Unless over-dyed, the colors will fade.
