| | JUNE 2022 19pressure, 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. 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 to interactions simply interactions among friends
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