You’ve probably seen the notifications by now. The oh-so-recognizable alerts telling you you have “2 min left to capture a BeReal.” Although the French app was created in 2020, it did not rise to worldwide popularity until mid-2022.
The idea behind BeReal, as explained by the name, is to create a more “real” form of social media. Drawing from the idea of private accounts, you have to request to follow someone and can really only become friends with people you know. Unlike most social media where you can follow any random person or celebrity, BeReal is designed to be between “real” friends only.
The activity on the app is unique because all it entails is taking a photo once a day. Every day at a random time, everyone with the app in the same time zone gets the notification that it is “Time to BeReal.” In theory, everyone will then stop and take their BeReal at that exact time in whatever environment they are in.
This is where the “real” in BeReal comes into play.
The app has no filters and no way to zoom in and out or edit photos. When you open the notification, you simply take a photo that snaps the view from your front and back camera and gives you a two-minute timer in which to do so.
The intention behind this is to encourage users to take a photo as they are. Although you can retake the photo, a new feature in the app displays the number of retakes to your followers, incentivizing the “one-time BeReal.”
The app’s purpose seems to be to deglamorize social media. It creates a unique sense of togetherness that other social media apps lack. Instagram can be ostracizing to users who don’t have the specific product the “It Girls” are wearing in their photos or to those whose bodies don’t look the same as the influencers they follow.
Instagram and other social media cultivate a feed of perfection, while BeReal urges you to come as you are. There is comfort in seeing others’ BeReals in their natural state, which often seems to be lying on the couch or working.
But whether or not BeReal achieves this goal is up to the user. While posting as you are so easy, it is equally as easy to wait 6 hours before opening the notification and capture yourself in a more interesting environment. The app’s true integrity lies in the hands of the user, and how real they are actually willing to be. It is up to the consumer to BeReal.
