BeReal
Redefining Social Media through Authentic Interactions

An entrepreneurial journey is seldom defined by destinations visited but rather characterised by experiences attained with each milestone surpassed by an individual along the road taken. Such experiences inspire these individuals to take up the next challenge and the one after that, progressively building up to a profound professional outlook that truly earns them the title – an entrepreneur. Julian Hislop’s illustrious career spans many such eventful voyages across destinations such as Tinder, Bumble, and currently, the highly trending, oneof- a-kind photo-sharing social media platform, BeReal.

Some of the key highlights of his career involved Hislop popularizing Tinder in the UK, and soon-after teaming up with Whitney Wolfe to launch the feminist dating application, Bumble. During this tenure, Hislop identified some of the prominent cultural brand partnerships that served as a foundation for Bumble to differentiate itself from competitors. As the head of UK marketing, Hislop oversaw exponential growth in the UK, acquiring millions of users by amalgamating content and brand development, guerrilla marketing strategies, brand ambassadors, digital media partnerships, and event marketing functions. Successively in 2018, Hislop pioneered Bumble’s expansion across Europe, and subsequently, India in 2019, wherein he hired and trained marketing teams in just a few months. The culmination of these experiences had presented Hislop with a new perspective on social media, which need not be addictive but rather be engaging enough to connect people; a social media devoid of peerpressure, anxiety, bullying, and similar social evils. He reckoned that the current social media platforms defeated their purpose of making people feel less lonely.

Coincidentally, in 2021, Hislop met with the founders of BeReal – a platform that had taken the French social media marketplace by storm owing to its functionalities and how it connected people.

BeReal, the photo-sharing social media platform, enables its users to share an authentic photo of themselves or anything they would like to share at the same time every day. The application sends a notification to users, which prompts them to share the picture, encouraging users to live in reality and not be trapped in the addictive nature of current social media. The platform does not feature likes, account follows or any such popularity-driven functions, which could cause insecurities or judgements among users. On the contrary, the platform is designed to reduce the time spent by users online without taking away the opportunity to stay connected with friends and family. Users can connect with friends and view posts made by users on the public forum of the application while reducing the interactions to simple reactions or emojis. From a behavioural standpoint, the inherent simplicity of BeReal encourages minimal interactions among users and with the social media application at large. Case in point, observing the feedback received on the platform, BeReal has been touted among users for the genuine social communication it fosters, unlike its contemporaries in the industry.

When I met with Alexis Barreyat, I fell in love with what they had planned for BeReal. He wanted to bring back authenticity to the social media industry and help develop real connections and interactions among friends,” explains Hislop. Thus, BeReal’s vision for the future and Hislop’s experiences in field marketing soon turned into the perfect marriage, both for the company and Hislop himself.

The Founders at BeReal are in constant dialogue with its users to improve the platform and consistently address people’s concerns and requests. On the user front, Hislop, who serves as the Head of Field Marketing at BeReal, is the conduit of customer feedback and marketing, responsible for building the BeReal community and educating people on the brand value and need to remain authentic in the social media world. More importantly, Hislop envisions a social media space that drives positive and healthy communication practices, particularly in a world where people have complete freedom over how they express themselves. Safe to say, Hislop’s tenure with BeReal marks the beginning of yet another journey, one that truly brings back authenticity to social interactions.