Why all the fuss about barcodes?

So it seems the social media term du jour is barcode. Sticky Bits were all the rage at SXSW and earlier this week we all got a little bit excited here in the office when we saw an option pop up on one of our client’s Facebook pages to create a QR code. Sadly it’s gone now but the clever folk at Techcrunch nabbed a screenshot. So whether you’re calling them QR codes or barcodes, they’re pretty exciting…

Stickybits

Personally I am in love with StickyBits. They debuted at SXSW last week and the idea is that they integrate the real-world with online (who knew there was a difference??). They work by downloading barcodes either straight from the site, or on stickers, mugs and tshirts that you can buy. It is an exciting way to ‘tag your world’ and works with their iphone app, where you can easily scan barcodes. You’re then greeted with whichever content the creator uploaded.

To create your own stickybits content, take a picture with the app and attach your content, be it text, photo or video.

Stickybits are still in the startup phase and you can see how they made such a big splash at SXSW. It’s that kind of quirky content that we love, introducing some interactivity into something as seemingly mundane as a barcode. The potential for this is great and the only limits are your imagination.

Stickybits is one in a fairly long line of barcode apps but the potential for this to create a stir is clear. The fact that the creator can delete the content also makes it pretty exciting. In an interview with the co-founder, Billy Chasen also stated that the have intentions to work with brands, so it’ll be interesting to see which brands jump on board.

To see how stickybits work for yourself, check out my stickybit here

Now the concept of users scanning barcodes isn’t completely new. QR codes were invented in 1994 and worked by redirecting people to a url, that was determined by the creator. They were also developed for mobile phones, with apps that could scan the codes. Stickybits are different in that you are instantly presented with the content that was tagged. What many people are calling a ‘digital post-it’. Or graffitti for nerds. The difference with Stickybits is also the location tracking, so if you want to add a code to an object that’s carried around, you can track its progress. Stickybits also provide a much easier user experience than QR codes. I.e. I could create one.

What have Facebook got in store?

As for Facebook’s plans for QR codes, it’s not clear yet quite how they’re going to work or what their specific plans are, so for now we will have to watch this space. What will be interesting to see is if the giant that is Facebook completely overrides the  marketing buzz that Stickybits are currently generating. I find the whole concept of scanning barcodes on your phone very exciting. Any developments that are made in mixing the offline and online catch my attention and I hope that this becomes more mainstream and the potential of something like Stickybits reaches widespread adoption.