Facebook's Poke app becomes unpopular in a hurry

If Facebook thought its Poke app would quickly dominate the timed messaging scene and make Snapchat a thing of the past, its plan appears to be off to a rocky start. As Mashable reports, after debuting in the No. 1 slot on the iOS free apps list, Poke has experienced a precipitous drop in popularity, and is now more than 700 spots back after just one month.

Both apps allow users to send messages to their Facebook friends, which automatically delete after a set time. Unfortunately for Facebook, Poke doesn't really do much to set itself apart from Snapchat, and the app doesn't appear to have resonated with its intended user base.

Poke is still in version 1.0, so it's possible that the company has some new and exciting features in the way to revive its already waning popularity. But even if Facebook lets it fade into obscurity, we can chalk it up to a learning experience.