I hate to squash the hopes of QR code haters, but it appears to bet one piece of pandemic tech that’s here to stay.
Users on Instagram can now share posts, Reels, tags, and locations on its searchable Map experience through QR codes. Plenty of people hate the QR code experience thwarted onto us by the pandemic, but there is reason to believe it can be effective in marketing campaigns.
QR code sharing is now an option for all users on the app. All you have to do is click the three-dot menu on any Reel, post, or location, click “QR code” on the top right, and save it to your camera roll. According to TechCrunch, you can also add “/qr” to a post’s URL on a browser to generate a QR code.
Meta, the company that owns Instagram, didn’t immediately respond to Mashable’s request for comment, but a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch that they made the decision in order “to make it easier for people and businesses to share specific content.”
This isn’t an entirely new avenue for Instagram, which has allowed users to share profiles through QR codes of their profiles for years now — just take a look at the stickers dotting subway cars. (It should be noted that this original choice to add QR codes was a pretty direct copy of Snapchat at the time. Classic Instagram.) This is the first time you can do that for individual posts, though.
It’s not difficult to see who might benefit from this change. I’m thinking about musicians sharing show information, artists selling their work and, of course, restaurants (hint: users who use Instagram to make money).
Personally, I have never had the drive to share my Instagram posts via QR code.