Category: QR Codes

The social media giant is now offering new options to help users to be able to connect more conveniently.

Facebook Messenger may not be the most popular mobile messaging application, but it isn’t all that far behind WhatsApp and it has now introduced additional features, including barcodes comparable to QR codes, which are meant to help people to better communicate with their friends and family members…and businesses and brands.

There usage of the mobile app has never been larger, as 900 million people use it every month.

That data is according to Mark Zuckerberg, himself. These days, people use the social network for a great deal more than just posting food pics and cranking about what has happened to them. It has become a very important business tool. It is specifically for this reason that many of the new features such as QR codes have been added to the application. It will make it much easier for businesses to converse with their customers and for people to investigate and communicate with the brands they like.

Among those features are barcodes similar to QR codes, as well as Messenger Links for faster conversation launching.

The barcodes are actually being called Messenger Codes, although they look just like a redesigned version of a quick response code. On the other hand, the links are just as self-explanatory, as they come in the form of a regular URL that can be tapped in order to begin a conversation over Facebook Messenger. The URLs are designed in the form of m.me/username and are essentially an extension of the traditional vanity URL.

The Messenger Codes appear to be regular QRcodes but that have undergone a facelift. They can be scanned using the camera of a smartphone or tablet and function as a shortcut into a conversation through the mobile app, instead of having to manually enter any identification info.

Zuckerberg described this take on QR codes by saying that “Messenger Codes let you just pull out your phone and scan someone else’s code — it’s the new circular pattern surrounding their profile photo in Messenger settings. Messenger then starts a conversation with them. No more misspelled names or mistyped phone numbers.”

For people who wonder what types of trees surround them in these green spaces, quick response codes will help.

In Murrysville, Pennsylvania, it’s becoming easier to get to know the types of trees that share their clean air, shade and gorgeous green color, as QR codes are being added to these green spaces to identify the various species.

Nature enthusiasts carrying smartphones will be able to scan the quick response codes for more information.

The QR codes are being added to the signage by the Friends of Murrysville Parks. The barcode tags have been placed onto park signs so that visitors to the area can use their smartphones to scan the codes and inform themselves about the types of trees that can be found throughout the green spaces. A scan automatically directs a user to one of the webpages hosted by the municipality and that have been created to provide information about the different types of trees that can be found throughout the parks.

At the start of the project, there are four QR codes being added to Duff Park, and five going into Townsend Park.

This, however, will be only the start of the program. With the initial launch, the nine codes in the two parks will get things started. However, it looks as though this will be expanded into more codes and additional parks over time.

Originally, the intention had been to build a gazebo with the municipality’s funds for Duff Park. However, the Friends of Murrysville Parks decided that it would be more appealing to launch a project that would provide tree identification.

A couple of local students were brought in by the Friends as interns and they studied the existing signage. They researched the trees and decided that adding QRcode tags would be the easiest way to update the black locust wood sign posts that are already there, hardy and rot-resistant, but that would now be able to provide far more information when scanned by smartphones.

The Friends are expecting that these QR codes will be receiving a considerable amount of use, particularly considering that Duff Park is likely the busiest of Murrysville’s eleven parks.