Who knows, but on reading the press release put out by Scanbuy today about its upgraded barcode reader, I was struck by one line in particular: The ScanLife Platform can also be used to generate free personal codes that link to social networking profiles or contact information.
So far, in many parts of the world, mobile barcodes have failed to capture the publics or brands imagination, despite their seemingly obvious appeal. It seems likely that their day may come, as consumers become familiar with the idea of receiving discount coupons on their phones, and become more comfortable with the idea of clicking on a barcode to take them off to a mobile site for more information, or for free, brand-sponsored goodies.
But the idea of a personal barcode that you carry on your phone that someone can scan to take them to your user profile on your social network sounds to me like just the sort of random application that could spread virally very quickly among the 16-24 age group.
If you move in mobile marketing circles, you will already see quite a few business cards with QR or other types of barcode on them, but so far, this is largely confined to those working in the mobile marketing industry. But the idea of young people exchanging mobile barcodes with each other to get an instant link to their new friends profile on Facebook, MySpace or wherever just looks to me like the sort of peer-to-peer application of mobile barcode technology that could help it finally take off. Something at the back of my mind tells me this already happens in Japan. If so, it wouldnt be the first mobile application to make it big over there, before finally finding a home over here. It just needs someone to put a bit of money behind it to kick-start the idea. If it strikes a chord with the youth of today, theyll do the rest.

David Murphy
Editor