Wearshare takes the crowdsourcing concept that Kickstarter pioneered and spun it with the age-old tradition of young girls everywhere: friendship bracelets.

The cool part? Facebook and Instagram are at your command; you get a QR code; and each order includes two bracelets: “one to wear, one to share,” as the company slogan goes.

Wearshare essentially married social media, mobile, relationships, and fashion in one neat, durable accessory. All for less than ten bucks.

Kickstarter only wishes it were this cool.

Mom Knows Best

According to Wearshare’s interview with online lifestyle magazine EYES + EDGE, the idea was born from co-creator Eric Anderson’s mother in 2010: “…My mother turned and asked if it might be possible to make a charm bracelet out of Facebook photos. My first thought was that the photos would be interchangeable, like small charms…”

Wearshare founders Eric Anderson (left) and Kavan Bahrami (right)

Anderson and good friend Kavan Bahrami took his mother’s mission and fell in love with it: “…a bracelet with your personal photographs could bring people back together, face-to-face, communicating directly and in person rather than in the digital space of social media.”

Here’s How it Works

1. Click “Design” in the top menu or “Start Now” in the middle, and the design Hub page appears. You’ll find the bracelet already waiting for you to rock its world in the upper left corner of the screen. You can choose the bracelet’s color from the round color swatches above it.

The three-columned box below is where your creativity shines. The drop-down menu allows you to source Facebook, Instagram, or even Wearshare’s own high-quality “Public Library” pictures if you want to keep it really simple. The left column lists the photo albums, the center column shows the thumbnails within the chosen album. The image you choose in this center area appears in the preview pane in the right column.

2. Drag the preview image in the right box up to the bracelet and drop it there.

3. Repeat up to six more times.

4. Click “Add to Cart” to complete the order. You’ll get two bracelets: one for you, and one for whomever you wish to give a gift: your bestie, your lover, your child, your relative, or anyone you care deeply about.

5. Be sure you and the intended recipient download the Wearshare App on your smartphones so when the bracelets arrive, you both can scan the QR code, which will load the Hub page. On the Hub page, people can view the photos you used to produce your bracelet and like, share and comment on its design.

What Began as a Memento Became a New (and Potentially Addictive) Way to Communicate

Thanks to the bracelets’ unique design, they’re the perfect display of affection for both parties; and since the user picks the pictures, his or her personality shines through the bracelet, much like a bumper sticker or catchy t-shirt. What’s more, it’s an easy conversation starter among strangers.

It’s the Pandora bracelet, but even more affordable, which gives you an excuse to order as many as you want. Many customers already share their bracelet photos on Instagram and on Wearshare’s Facebook Page boasting up to four or five.

If you’re curious about how long they last, it depends on how you treat them. Wearshare states “they’re meant to be worn until they fall off.” The cotton-polyester canvas blend material is U.S.-made and, according to the site, ages like good jeans. In the toughest conditions, the bracelets last about two to four months before the QR code isn’t scannable anymore.

Ready to make one yourself? Go to wearshare.us to get started.

_{Article reprinted from Downtown Orlando Fashion Week by permission. Wearshare logo courtesy of http://www.aboutus.org/WEARSHARE.us. Photo collage and Hub page shots taken from Wearshare website. Wearshare founders photo taken from Wearshare Facebook page.}