Police Arrest Woman after Facebook 'Poke'

Shannon Jackson of Hendersonville, Tennessee has been arrested for Facebook "poking" a woman who had filed a legal order of protection against her. The case calls into question the spatial qualities of the Internet and could force today's legal system to better define the many unique functions of social networking.

It's not yet known why the order of protection was filed against Jackson, but what we do know is that if the poke is classified in the same category as a phone call, email, instant message, or face-to-face visit, she could be on her way to prison for as long as 11 months and 29 days, the maximum penalty for the offence. Jackson is due in a courtroom later this month to deal with the charge. (Source: crn.com)

How Personal is a Facebook Poke?

For those unfamiliar with Facebook's finer points, the web site, which allows users to create their own page and interact with others by commenting on statuses, photos, and fields of interests, also permits a one-button function called a "poke", most often used to simply get the attention of another user.

Imagine waving from across the room or throwing a paper airplane into a co-worker's cubicle. Better yet, for those familiar with MSN, it's a bit like the "nudge" function, which plays a small noise and mildly shakes a user's chat screen in the midst of a conversation.

The question is, does it qualify as a formal communication? Is it on par with a creepy phone call or email? According to Ryan Calo, a residential fellow at Stanford University's Center for Internet & Society, it most certainly is. "A poke is a very deliberate action," Calo said. "You have to select the person and say, 'this is what I want to do.'" (Source: go.com)

Calo believes the challenge will be for conservative judges and lawyers to adapt to new definitions of communication in a modern, web-linked age. "Protective orders are not always about physical danger, they're often about getting this person out of your attention and getting away from them," Calo remarked.

Jackson "Extremely Shocked" by Charge

Thus far, Jackson's lawyer, who admits his client was "extremely shocked" at news that she would be charged, doesn't yet appear to be refuting the classification of a poke. Instead, he's working on getting documentation from Facebook in order to determine if the poke was made by his client or someone else posing as Jackson. That suggests Jackson isn't yet willing to admit she was behind the poke, a position that suggests she too believes it would qualify as a legitimate communication.

It's not the first time social networking has landed regular people in big trouble. Earlier this year a Chicago woman was sued for $50,000 by a property management company after complaining on Twitter about her "moldy apartment." (Source: arstechnica.com)