How I Poked Everyone

The other day, I poked all of my friends on facebook. 377 people, to be exact. The idea came while I was reading a conceptual art book- the idea of art being an action, a method, something not at all material. The real motivation came from feeling disconnected and a little lonely. I had a new years resolution to use less facebook, except let's be honest, facebook can be really usefulf and interesting. Facebook can be used for good and not evil.

So I poked everybody, and the way poking works now (it's been a while) is that you have to go to each persons individual profile. I can't just poke my way down my friends list, which was the original plan. It took many hours, no joke. In the process, I learned lots of new things about people who moved, got engaged, changed their hair. I thought about all the too-familiar people I have known forever, those strange names I hardly know, and the people I still can't believe I do know. The ex-everythings, and their current counterparts. The one deceased person. There were people I dreaded poking (but that was the rule, everyone) and one person even un-friended me (though I can't tell who, funny enough!). So far, a surprising amount have poked back. People who I never expected, who I haven't talked to in years, have written me messages. A few feel less special when they realize I poked everyone, which is half the point and also half not the point at all.

So far, 142 have poked me back. I am keeping them all.