As it struggles to keep user growth up to par with services like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, Twitter today is rolling out a new way to discover users. Announced in a tweet from a Twitter designer, users can now create custom QR codes to make it easier to follow and discover accounts…
Similar to the Snapcodes used by Snapchat, the new Twitter QR codes feature a user-unique code on them, as well as the user’s profile picture in the middle, as seen above.
The process of scanning a QR code or obtaining your own isn’t super straightforward. In order to do so, head into the official Twitter app for iOS, navigate to your profile tab, and click the gear icon. From there, you’ll see a new “QR code” option. Tapping it will give you the option to either scan someone else’s QR code or to view and share your own.
Much like Snapchat, you can either take a picture of another user’s QR code with your device’s camera or choose a screenshot from your camera roll that contains a QR code. Once you’ve scanned a QR code, the profile will be brought up and you’ll have the option to quickly follow the account.
Presumably, what Twitter hopes this will accomplish is increased user growth. The company has struggled to keep up with services like Snapchat and Instagram in terms of user growth, while it has also struggled to monetize. It seems unlikely, however, that the launch of QR codes will dramatically improve Twitter’s growth numbers. The reason they work so well for Snapchat is because there’s no way to search for a user by name, thus the need for the QR codes. Twitter, however, already supports relatively advanced user discovery features.
You can view your QR code by doing the following:
- Use the official Twitter app
- Go to the “Me” tab
- Tap the gear/settings icon
- Choose “QR Code” and you’re off to the races
📢 hella pumped to announce the launch of QR codes on twitter! they work like snap codes!!
find yours: profile > gear > QR code pic.twitter.com/lvAr97bHj6
— brittany ☻ (@brittanyforks) November 16, 2016
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