Digital terms Q-R

A QR code is a visual code that can be read with a camera app or a QR code app. QR is an abbreviation for "Quick Response". The QR code works like the bar code at the supermarket checkout, except that the QR code uses dot patterns instead of bar patterns and can be read in two directions. The QR code can therefore contain more characters. For example, the link (i.e. the address) to this website can be converted into a QR code here. The code can be displayed as an image on a website, in the program booklet of the adult education center or as an advertising poster at a bus stop. The advantage is that you don't have to search for the website using a search engine. You need a QR code app or you can use the QR code function on your smartphone camera. Newer models have this function.

On the picture you will find the QR code to the website "Digital? - It's easy!". Try it out for yourself.

Open the camera app on your smartphone and focus on the QR code displayed. If the QR code is recognized, the smartphone will show you a button to open the website with your smartphone browser (explanation "Browser"). This happens automatically.

Quick Reactions are small symbols that can be used to react quickly to messages, images or videos. They are usually emojis, such as a heart, a smiling face or a thumbs-up. You don't have to write anything, just click on the message or image you want to "react quickly" to. Symbols (emojis) then appear from which you can choose. This is quick and signals: "I saw that" or "I think that's good." Quick reactions are therefore a quick and easy way to communicate digitally.

Quick reactions are available in many apps. For example on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Signal or Telegram. They are used in chats, stories or comments. They make content more colorful and convey different emotions than the written word.

Almost everyone who uses social media or messengers also uses quick reactions. They are particularly practical when you don't have time or don't want to write a lot.

However, the use of quick reactions is not entirely free of criticism, with some people saying that quick reactions make conversations superficial. People quickly click an emoji, but no longer really talk to each other. Emotions can also be misunderstood because an emoji often doesn't show exactly what you're really thinking. Quick reactions also give platforms more data about us - about what we like or who we have a lot of contact with. This data can be used for personalized advertising, for example. Some people find this problematic.

The term "quishing" is a combination of the terms "QR code" and "phishing".

It is a scam in which a fake QR code - for example on charging stations for electric cars or parking ticket machines - is pasted over the real QR code.

The QR code then leads to a fake website. There, customers are asked to enter their credit card details.

The term "ransom" is English and means "ransom". "Ransomware" is software that encrypts data so that it can no longer be read. Criminals demand a ransom to decrypt and release the data. You can find more detailed information on this and what those affected should do in this video: