QR Code, Facebook And Mums

It’s been found that more Australian moms are beginning to use online social networking sites to keep tabs on their kids, especially when their kids are studying or working overseas. And can you blame them? One 48 year old mom quipped, ‘He won’t call and sometimes, he’s too busy with his life to pick up my calls. So, I check his Facebook page every once in a while to find out what he’s up to. Perfectly harmless,’ says Anne with a cheeky smile.

Well, it’s harmless only if she refrains from over-commenting, checking for grammatical errors and posting embarrassing photos of him when he was a child on her facebook and then tagging him along with it. While Anne is pretty apt in dealing with her ‘friendship’ with her son on Facebook, there are other moms out there who make mistakes that results in being removed from their kids’ friends list. And that is what Australia’s largest telecommunications company is trying to do.

Some Australians may have spotted a curious looking QR Codes on some billboards – not just your conventional QR Code, but a fancy designer QR Code that leads you to a mobile web page DigitalMum or known as MUM 2.0. Currently, the designer QR Code can be found splattered across magazine pages and billboards in and around Australia.

The QR Code campaigned not only aim at young mothers in their twenties but also those who are internet savvy in their thirties. And beyond that, they envisage mothers in their forties to sixties might even join the bandwagon when their kids excitedly arm their mothers with new smart phones. This is the new age way for mothers to stay connected to their family members, you see and we’re sure mothers in their fifties and sixties will take very little time to learn how useful QR Codes can be and start scanning the QR Codes that they see.

The QR Code marketing campaign aims at educating mothers with more internet skills thereby encouraging them to continue using online social networking sites to stay in touch with their kids. While mothers struggle with insecurities and learning curves of navigating the smart corners of new developments in the technology-driven world, MUM 2.0 will help them tremendously.

MUM 2.0 ambassador, Wendy Harmer, says that she (including her friends) use sites like Facebook and Myspace to keep in touch with their kids and they have learned ways to do it without intruding or appear to be stalking or spying on their kids.

We hope the QR Code campaign generates a good response from mothers all over Australia. In fact, it may even help mothers from other parts of the world.