The news: Facebook is promoting its Pokes feature in an effort to increase user engagement.

• Pokes—a mainstay feature of the early Facebook experience—are regaining popularity, prompting Facebook to make it a more central part of the user experience, per TechCrunch.
• Users can now track their “Pokes count” with friends, essentially a streak, on top of a dedicated Poke button added to Facebook profiles.

Why it matters: Gamification, especially streaks-based features, have proven effective in boosting time spent and encouraging frequent check-ins with a platform. TikTok, Snapchat, and Duolingo have all used this tactic successfully.

User retention is a crucial focus right now for Facebook, which is failing to attract younger users and keep them.

• US adults ages 18 to 24 spend an average of just 12 minutes per day on Facebook, compared with 58 minutes on TikTok, per our data.
• Facebook has tried to court this demographic with features like Reels and a “Gen Z redesign,” but traction remains limited.

Analyst insights: “This is the kind of feature that is incredibly easy for Facebook to experiment with, and then quickly go away from if it doesn't create meaningful engagement,” said Jeremy Goldman, senior director of briefings at EMARKETER.

“But the stakes are especially high as (platforms) like Snap and Discord use gamification elements to keep younger users logging in more frequently, which creates a habit—and we all know habits are hard to break. For Facebook, this is mainly about creating a habit of opening the app among users who just don't open it right now.”

The hurdle: Pokes were most relevant in Facebook’s early days. Now, the users Meta is trying to attract—largely Gen Z and Gen Alpha—may have little familiarity or emotional connection with the feature.

Our take: Meta relies on Facebook for the lion’s share of its ad revenues. While Pokes may seem to be a low-stakes experiment, re-engaging younger users is a high-stakes battle, and even small features can tip the balance if they create sticky user habits.