Every year both Google Play and the Apple App Store name the top apps of the year. BeReal, the social media app that has been top of the download charts pretty much all year, was named iPhone App of the Year by Apple and User’s Choice App of the Year from the Google Play Store.

BeReal

You might not be using BeReal, but your kids could be. The app emerged as an anti-filter, anti-posed opposite of Instagram and its lack of authenticity.

How BeReal Works

1. About every 24 hours, you get a notification that you have two minutes to post a BeReal. The notifications come at random times. You never know when it will come. A number of times I’ve gotten them while I’m in the bathtub. No pics, please! #tooreal
2. When you take the picture, BeReal snaps both the front camera and the back at the same time. You don’t get any filters or adjustments. It’s either you take a pic or you don’t. (Note: you can retake the pic if you want, and you can alter whether you focus on your face (front camera) or the scenery (back camera).
3. Everyone in your friends list gets the notifications at the same time (I don’t know what they do when you have lots of friends. I have like 8). If you set your BeReal feed to be public, you’ll also show up to others.
4. If you take your pic, you get to see others’ pics. If not, you just see a blurry background and a kind of taunting message that says you can’t see anything until you take your pic.
5. Your friends’ pics disappear from your phone the next time you need to BeReal, but your own memories stick around. Sure, you can grab a screenshot, but that’s the only way to keep others’ pics.
6. You can comment on others’ pics, and you can add an emoji. But an added twist is that even the reaction emojis are real! You take a picture of yourself laughing, giving a thumbs up, being shocked, etc., and those serve as your reaction emojis.

Real BeReal Examples

I joined BeReal a couple of months ago so I could try it out for y’all. I invited a bunch of friends, and I have to say I find it delightful (even though most of my invitees joined, used it for a week, then never posted again).

My BeReals are a little too real

I’m almost always without makeup and doing something boring.

My friends and colleagues always seem to look put together

To try out the app, I invited some famous, brilliant colleagues/friends and my phenomenal sister, who is always willing to help me experiment. I asked them if they’d mind me sharing the screenshots I took of their posts.

• Jon Petz is a super famous speaker/magician/emcee and just a cool guy.
• If you haven’t heard Mimi Brown speak, you’re missing brilliance!
• And my geeky bestie and neighbor Teri Carden is not only a brilliant consultant in the association industry… she also speaks and puts on her own events. #IKnowBrilliantPeople

How Can Businesses Use BeReal

Great question! It really is a non-commercial app right now. You can make your feed public (( don’t), but I think most people use it in their own circles. Here’s how Chipotle is trying to create a presence.

Here are three ideas for how to use BeReal in the workplace if you want to make your profile public and share with the world.

• Find BeReal users at your next event to document the activities.
• Entice your staff to do a BeReal day-in-the-life montage of the things that go into running your organization.
• If you’re a solopreneur, use BeReal to showcase your products and services.
• What others can you think of?