Facebook Founder Puts Personal Touch on Familiar Facebook Feature (Hear It Here)

If you've been a Facebook user for some length of time, you might have noticed the "Poke" feature, which was at first a button and now is nestled in a friend's "message" dropdown menu. The feature might go relatively unused by many Facebook users -- it's function only alerts the pokee that they've been jabbed electronically -- but this week the social media site introduced a Poke upgrade.

According to Facebook's announcement, "Poke" is now a stand alone mobile app. But it's not the app that allows users to "just say hello" or poke with with a video alert that is gaining attention. TechCrunch pointed out that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took on a more personal role with this feature.

(Image: Apple App Store)

Not only did he contribute to some of the app's programming, but the “Poke” soundbite when a user receives notifications is said to be Zuckerberg's voice.

"My sources say that Facebook’s CEO recorded the sound snippet on his phone as a joke," Josh Constine with TechCrunch wrote. "But he was convinced to run the sample through some audio filters and let it become the soundtrack to the modern Poke."

Listen to it here:

The app is similar to Snapchat, another app that allows users to share photos and videos which are then deleted a few seconds after being received. TechCrunch reported that it was rumored Facebook wanted to purchase this app, but Snapchat didn't want to join the social media giant.

With that, Facebook made their own version -- in just 12 days.

The similarities are so great between the two apps that one customer review said:

Huge ripoff of snapchat! Good app but why try and copy what already exists? Make something original. I think I'll stick with snapchat at least until this goes big. -- Micah Wilson, two stars

TechCrunch said the quick app creation could have been to get it approved before Apple stopped accepting applications before the holidays. Another reviewer who gave the app five stars said, "those Facebook people sure know how to ship mobile apps."