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Facebook implements personal, fan page and status update QR barcodes
It seems, within the last few minutes, Facebook has started to roll out QR barcodes on profile pages. I don't mean your drunken and/or emo profile photos have been replaced by an ugly barcode -- I mean you can generate barcodes to be used by your smartphone. You can now generate either a personal barcode or a 'status QR barcode'. Facebook pages (fan pages) also have QR code generation.The personal code makes sense -- you could leave it stuck on a bathroom door, or on your resume/CV for example -- but I can't quite work out what a 'status QR barcode' might be. Is it for coded, hidden messages? For fan pages it makes perfect promotional sense -- a band poster with a QR barcode on, for example.
A little digging shows that the QR codes are generated by m.facebook.com, so this is certainly a mobile-oriented service -- but still, other than leaving your 'status' on a wall somewhere (imagine scanning someone's QR code only to find out it says 'LOL, made you look!'), I can't work out what it's for.
I'm sure someone will work it out soon.
[thanks to Sam for the tip!]
Update (08:52 EST): Ooh, they seem to have disappeared again... pro, Facebook!
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsSamMar 16th 2010 9:25AM
I noticed this too, and now it isn't there anymore!
http://social-networking-tagging.suite101.com/article.cfm/facebook-qr-barcode
Mark BMar 16th 2010 12:07PM
While QR codes are pretty dang cool, I can help but think that it's not such a hot idea when you never can quite know who or what could be behind it until you actually scan/open it.
Then again...the same can be said for the internet as a whole (Lemonparty.org anyone?)
Sebastian AnthonyMar 16th 2010 1:27PM
Well, I don't know how much data you can encode in a QR barcode. I bet it's not much though -- probably a URL or short message only.
Though it would be kinda funny if you could 'stick' porn/etc QR barcodes on things...
Bathrooms would look a lot more innocuous if they were covered in QR barcodes instead of (c)rude epithets...
CarlosMar 16th 2010 12:10PM
Barcodes? Geez...
Facebook is just a sad reflection of the general lack of true content in people's lives, a lack of substance, purpose and meaning, if you will. As such it also reveals that pathological, collective need for pitiful self-promotion. Sacrifice your privacy, your intimate sphere of life, sure, it's all ok, who cares. Make your life public in all ways possible. Get your self out there! Maybe someone will notice you or even better - photoshop your profile picture to death and you'll finally get laid!
I think that's all just pathetic.
Barcodes? Sigh.
People are cattle. Cattle, I say.
We'll get what we deserve, that's for sure.
It's all becoming very "David Icke-ish", you know.
Barcodes. Great.
I mean I know everything in life is like a double sided coin, but in case of Facebook - one side is way thicker than the other.
Sebastian AnthonyMar 16th 2010 1:28PM
I'm not sure how one side of a coin can be thicker than the other... would that be like flipping a coin and having it land on its edge?
Deep thoughts, though. Deep and perturbed. Hang in there; it's not all bad!
michas_piMar 16th 2010 10:31PM
@Carlos:
Thank you. I am happy that I am not the only one with those thoughts about social networking.
Minute details about our very existence reduced...to barcodes. Brave new world, indeed.
Read "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman, if you haven't already.