It was reported today that Facebook is likely in late-stage negotiations with “social activity” service Hot Potato for an acquisition.

Hot Potato allows users to share what they’re doing using a dead simple Web interface, or through its iPhone app.  User’s can instantly share what they’re listening to, watching or reading, and even check-in to venues to let friends know where they’re at.  This “social activity” is prime for Facebook’s strategy, especially for mobile.

While it’s already been speculated that the acquisition could signal Facebook’s entry into the “check-in” craze, it’s likely a move to acquire the startup’s engineering team, which has built a pretty nice looking iPhone app.  Still, Facebook wants to become a primarily mobile service, with location obviously playing a huge role going forward.

Facebook recently poached Erick Tseng from Google’s Android team, and we’ll likely see a lot of movement in the mobile space from the social giant in the very near future.  We’ll definitely keep our eyes on this one…

QR codes are slowly making themselves known in mainstream applications, with a prime example being its use in a massive campaign centered around Gulf relief.

Activist group Women of the Storm is rallying public support around Gulf restoration through its celebrity-backed Be the One campaign to get signatures for their petition, which states: “I demand that a plan to restore America’s Gulf be fully funded and implemented for me and future generations.”  The primary call-to-action they chose to use is what’s interesting.

Mobile barcode company ScanLife created a QR code that, when scanned, directs users to a mobile site where they can watch the Be the One video and sign the petition.  To boost awareness, the QR codes have been placed on t-shirts as well as on the Thomas Reuters billboard in Time Square.  So far, the campaign has proved very successful, garnering more than 117,000 signatures with the help of the QR code call-to-action.

Campaigns like this not only boost awareness for the mobile barcode concept in general, but also proves how successful they can be when implemented properly.  In this case, they can also prove to be an effective tool for social activism.