Social networks have been progressively predominant since the arrival of Web 2.0 in 2004 and just when you thought everything had been invented, a new player arrives to the digital ecosystem: Be.Real.
This application aims to bring us back to reality and keep us away from algorithms, filters and the already well-known “postureo”. If we want to give more freedom, we’ll talk about it another day.
How real can a social network be? What paradigms does the arrival of Be.Real change? How can it affect companies? I tell you all this and much more in this article.
Be.Real, what is that?
Let’s start at the beginning. Be.Real is a social network, like Instagram or TikTok, which has the peculiarity that it does not allow you to upload content whenever you want. To do so , you must follow strict rules imposed by the platform itself. These standards are:
- The platform tells you when to upload content
- You can only upload photos and they must be taken simultaneously with the front and rear cameras.
- You only have 2 minutes to take the photo from the moment you receive the notification.
- All contacts share content at the same time
Although it may seem restrictive at first glance, users think it is a way to make photo sharing more fun.
It is not all restrictions, there are also points that make it interesting:
- Allows to geolocate or not the photo
- It can be uploaded privately or in Discover (a section visible to anyone registered in the app).
- It is possible to comment on publications
- Content is deleted daily, when it is time to create a new photo.
I’m sure there are people, I include myself in that pack, who don’t understand how this platform works and don’t see the supposed fun in such a strict system. Let’s put it in context to try to better understand why it is a change that is embraced and perceived as an improvement.
Are we getting worse or are we improving?
Before starting to answer the question, it should be noted that everything is open to opinion. There are people who feel comfortable exposing their lives to the public eye and there are others who are not so comfortable. What is clear, however, is that social networks are evolving by leaps and bounds. Let’s take a look at its short, but very intense, history.
A brief history of networks
It all started in 1997, when SixDegrees, the world’s first social network, was created. It was a network that allowed you to locate other members of the network and create lists of friends. It was based on the theory of the 6 degrees.
From this first social network, we started to evolve until MySpace and LinkedIn appeared in 2003. These networks were already considered much more professional and it was beginning to sense how companies could begin to benefit from this new form of communication.
Just one year later, the social network par excellence, Facebook, appeared (yes, I know it’s Meta, but let’s keep calling it Facebook). Initially used to connect Harvard students, it soon evolved into what we know today.
In 2005 YouTube arrived, causing an audiovisual revolution. We went from static images to being able to share videos with our friends and even the whole world. Can you imagine (or are you able to remember) what a change it was?
In 2006, a year later, Twitter’s 140 characters arrived. Completing the panorama of basic functions that today we understand that every social network must have: photography, video and comments in real time.
A few years later, in 2009, WhatsApp arrived to allow us to talk to our contacts and, most importantly, to know their availability in real time.
A year later comes what I like to call “the paradigm” of social networks: Instagram. One of its first additions were the hashtags that served to facilitate the discovery of content on specific topics. Some time later it popularized stories, a content publishing format that disappears in 24h and in which Snapchat was a pioneer.
Let’s jump ahead to 2016, when TikTok appears. This social network started out very popular among teenagers, especially since it bought Musically in 2018. Progressively, it has expanded its audience to become the network par excellence and has begun to dominate the online advertising market for companies.
How does Be.Real fit into this picture?
As we have seen, social networks have allowed us to connect with (literally) everyone, and have a two-way conversation with whomever you want. Despite the many advantages they have brought, there are quite a few side effects. The most prominent are low self-esteem, especially among young people, as they equate themselves with influencers or celebrities who romanticize their lives and distort their appearance with filters and the addiction that these social networks entail. This is where Be.Real and its restrictions come in.
The platform’s popularity comes largely because it “helps” you control your relationship with networks and makes it less toxic. I’ll explain why:
- Random 2-minute posting window: by giving you only 2 minutes (different each day) to post and doing so at the same time as your friends, it not only limits the content you can show, but also conditions what you can show.
- In 24h it is deleted: every day, when it is time to upload a new photo, the previous day’s content is deleted. Not only does this limit the time you can comment and view a photo, it also detracts from the importance of the moment and adds to the socializing experience.
- Front and rear camera simultaneously: perhaps this is one of the peculiarities that goes unnoticed, but it is a paradigm shift, especially in terms of the freedom to focus on what you want and especially the freedom to leave what you do not want them to see out of shot.
- Filters out: finally, perhaps the most celebrated feature, is the elimination of filters.
So much for the introduction to Be.Real and the brief review of the history of social networks. Do you have any doubts? Contact us and we will solve them.
