Don't poke me, bro! Facebook "poke" leads to arrest

Why do stories like this continue to surprise me?

Just when I think I've seen it all online comes a tale like the one of Tennessee's Sharon D. Jackson, who was arrested last month. Her crime? Sending a "poke" to another woman via the Facebook social network.

In my experience, few people really ever use the "poke" feature. ABC News calls it the "digital equivalent of waving at someone from across a crowded room." Others would call it the online version of a "what's up?" text message.

Either way it's an awfully harmless little feature... unless, it seems, you have a restraining order filed against you preventing you from contacting the person you poked.

It's unclear why the victim of the poke, Dana M. Hannah, has a restraining order against Jackson, but as of June, Jackson had been prohibited from "telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the petitioner, directly or indirectly." It's equally unclear why Jackson poked Hannah -- or whether someone else did the poking in question under her guise  -- as well as whether a poke constitutes either contact or communication.

Either way she's now in custody, as Jackson's lawyer tries "to get my hands on some Facebook documentation so we can better assess the situation." If convicted, violation of the earlier restraining order could net Jackson nearly a year in jail.

Important lessons here, folks. If you've been stalking someone to the point where they seek a legal remedy to keep you away from them, it's probably not a good idea to interact with them in any way online -- even with an innocent "poke." In fact, you might consider de-friending them on Facebook altogether to avoid the temptation.