We tell you about this social network that is all the rage among young people. BeReal, what it is and why it is so important for marketers.
Little by little, social networks have become a gallery of personal life. Most users share content about their own intimacy on a daily basis and expose themselves to others with a supposed honesty that, deep down, is largely constructed.
BeReal, what it is and why it is a paradigm shift
BeReal is here to destroy this psycho-technological operation: it is a visual social network (only for images and messages) that has the particularity of prohibiting free or “anytime” publication. Its system works based on a publication order where one can upload an image when the system orders it. In addition, the platform prohibits uploading gallery images: only images taken with the camera and at the time are allowed.
The idea is that users are spontaneous: at a certain time of the day each user has two minutes to upload a photo of themselves and their surroundings. Both cameras, the front and the external one, are turned on and after the publication time period has elapsed, they can only react to the publications of other users, who in turn also received the same order at the same time.
“If users want to show their privacy, they should do it honestly,” is the precept that perhaps arises from certain incidents that reveal a relationship between the poor self-perception of young people and the use of social networks . Some people categorize this idea as another way of snooping in other people's lives, literally seeing what the other person is doing, where and with whom at a particular moment.
This social network was launched in 2020 by Frenchmen Alexis Barreyat chile phone number and Kevin Perreau. Since then, it has been installed 73.5 million times worldwide and has 10 million active users daily. Experts say, however, that while the speed of its growth is striking (in 2020 it managed to be the social network of the year), we must wait for its evolution in content, tools and commercial turns to determine its real value and its future in the digital space: death like Fotolog or stardom like Instagram.
The opportunity that BeReal highlights
According to the director of the master's degree 'Social Media: Management and Strategy' at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Silvia Martínez , being real is a concept that is on the rise and that contrasts with the idyllic and thought-out images of other social networks .
Some social media content creators say that BeReal works as a complement to what they don't post on Instagram: a different side of the same landscape.
Many professionals, years ago, would have said that a social network that forces you to take a photo without prior notice, where you cannot go back (once you take it, it is published, although it can be deleted), would be a failure. Well, no, maybe it was time to leave behind thinking about yourself for others and give way to showing yourself for others.
This is a fundamental fact for a marketer because it shows a trend that has been increasing in potential for years: authenticity. This concept is fundamental for the content of any brand, since every day the traditional content of an institution becomes more and more distant from the reality of young people. It is shown not only to be outdated, but also disguised. In the era of transparency, “institutionalist” brands are not spared.
Here's an idea: although brands don't have much of a say in BeReal for now, authenticity can be part of their communication on other social networks and on their corporate blog . Showing real testimonials, problems and solutions can be one of the strategies that best adapts to the new times. The time has passed for publications based on institutional presentations, statistical data and corporate terms. Brands have to solve problems for people.