BeReal, a booming social media app that emphasizes authenticity, is reaching out to brands and celebrities for the first time. Starting February 6, brands and celebrities will be able to register as “RealBrands” or “RealPeople,” and fans will be able to watch them share behind-the-scenes moments of their lives that they might not share anywhere else.
BeReal was designed to make social media seem less staged. At a different time each day, users receive a push notification letting them know it's “BeReal time” and then have two minutes to post whatever they're doing. When the app started gaining momentum in 2022, it prioritized helping people connect more with their existing friends. BeReal is supposed to be the anti-Instagram, inviting users to share (mostly) unfiltered glimpses of their daily lives, even if the daily push notification randomly set to “BeReal” might catch you doing the dishes instead of do something cool and glamorous. .
Given BeReal's full treatment, the RealBrand and RealPeople features may seem a little out of place to users.
“We know what you're thinking… 'how does something like this fit into BeReal's mission?'” says the blog announcing the feature. “We believe that by showing that notable people and brands are actually people like us, equally boring and interesting at different times, we help reset and improve some of the negativity that comes from modern social platforms.”
BeReal told TechCrunch that it now has 23 million daily active users; In August, BeReal said it had 20 million daily active users, so this is a small increase. But as its growth slows, BeReal needs to figure out how to retain users. Over the last year, BeReal has rolled out a number of new features like groups, mentions, multiple posts per day, pinned posts, and a “friends of friends” feed. And according to a Pew study, an estimated 13% of American teenagers use the app.
But the problem with BeReal and its commitment to nurturing existing friendships is that it can't make money. That's why Facebook, another company initially motivated by connecting people, became an advertising business. BeReal faces the same unfortunate reality for venture capital-funded social platforms: At some point, it has to sell ads or get users to purchase premium features. The latter is usually more complicated.
These RealBrands and RealPeople are not advertisements themselves. Like any other BeReal user, you will have to post on time at the moment. But it's pretty easy to see how opening the door to brands could be the first step in BeReal's plans to try to earn some revenue.
“For those of you who are concerned that this is changing our focus, we can assure you that BeReal will always focus on friends and close connections first,” the blog post reads.
Well, if we're about to start seeing brand posts on BeReal, can we humbly nominate the duolingo owl for early access?
