Facebook encourages conversation with Messenger Links and QR-like Messenger Codes

WhatsApp may have a billion users, but Facebook Messenger isn't far behind: Mark Zuckerberg says "900 million people now use Messenger every month". Nowadays, Facebook is about much more than people sharing pictures of breakfast and bitching about their friends, it's also a valuable tool for businesses.

With this in mind, Facebook is adding a number of features to Facebook Messenger that it says will make it easier for businesses to connect and converse with their customers. Usernames will make it easier for people to identify businesses, while Messenger Links and Messenger Codes (just think QR codes with a fresh lick of paint) are being rolled out to make it quicker and easier to start conversations.

Messenger Links are fairly self-explanatory affairs: a simple URL that people can click to start a Messenger conversation. The URL takes the form m.me/username, and is really an extension of the idea of vanity URLs. In a very similar vein are Messenger Codes. Like QR codes, these are similar to barcodes and can be scanned with a smartphone camera as a shortcut to starting a messenger conversation.

Zuckerberg himself explains Facebook's spin on QR codes:

Messenger Codes let you just pull out your phone and scan someone else's code -- it's the new circular pattern surrounding their profile photo in Messenger settings. Messenger then starts a conversation with them. No more misspelled names or mistyped phone numbers.

As you can see from the image above, Messenger codes are somewhat more attractive and customizable than QR codes. Facebook says that "businesses can use Messenger Links and Messenger Codes in ads, on their website or in any other marketing channel to prompt people to reach out to them directly".

If you don’t see these new features yet, just sit tight as they're rolling out gradually over the coming weeks.