BeReal

BeReal is a fairly new and free social media app that allows users to post once daily, showing followers what they’re doing within the random two-minute window that the app deems as time to “BeReal” . The goal of the app is to combat the highly edited, perfectly curated feed that is common in apps like Instagram and Facebook. As described on their website, BeReal allows you to “discover who your friends really are in their daily life”, connecting you to your friends and family in an authentic way.

History of BeReal

The app was first launched in December 2019, thanks to its French creators Alexis Barreyat (former GoPro employee) and Kévin Perreau. However, it wasn’t until a few years later in early 2022 when it started gaining popularity, especially among college campuses due largely in part to their college ambassador program. In March 2021, the app had only 10,000 active daily users, which has now skyrocketed to more than 15 million today. This drew in interest from investors such as Xavier Niel and in June 2022 Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and DST pooled another $30 million to its funding - the app is now valued at $600 million according to the Financial Times.

Features

Front and Back Camera

Although the design and concept of BeReal is very simple, there are some features that are worth noting. Firstly, the daily photo taken uses the front and back camera, allowing users to see their friends and what they’re doing. And although you can retake these pictures, the app has a feature that allows you to see how many times a person retook their BeReal, helping to foster that sense of transparency. It also allows for late posting (that is, past the two-minute window) but will show at the top of the post how many minutes or hours behind the actual scheduled time it was.

Reactions

BeReal also acts in a similar way to other social media apps, allowing users to interact with their friends by reacting and commenting on posts. The reactions are similar to likes on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter, but instead of just double tapping the user is able to react with a picture of themselves shown in a small circle at the bottom of the post. The comments are essentially the same as other social media platforms, where followers can type their thoughts and the poster can reply. These reactions as well as comments are visible to all followers.

Memories

Past BeReals cannot be viewed in a user's feed by their followers, and each one disappears when the new notification is sent out. However, the user can see their own past BeReals in a feature they call “Memories”. This is comparable to apps like Snapchat that store saved snaps in your memories, showing the date each one was taken. On BeReal, the memories feature looks like a calendar, showing you all your past BeReals on each day you took them. Starting in 2022 you could also access your BeReal recap, showing all your past BeReals in one video, and highlighting statistics like who you interacted with most and how often you were on time.

Discover

Not only are users able to interact with their followers’ posts, but they can also view posts shared in the “Discover” section, where BeReals from around the world are publicly shown. The user can choose if their post will be shown to only their friends or the public. There is also an option to send friend requests to people shown in the discover section, which can encourage users to branch out and meet new people, and since the location on these are visible as well, you can see who is posting in your area.

No Followers

What especially distinguishes BeReal from other social media platforms is the way its design displays users as equal in terms of their status on the app. There are no followers or visible friends. Only each individual person can see how many friends they have. There is also no feed on each profile, as the posts disappear to followers. There is no such thing as a BeReal influencer, and it is not intended as a way for people to make money off of it or gain any sort of popularity.

No Advertisements

The app does not currently make any profit, as it is free to users and does not utilize any advertisements. This makes their purpose extremely clear; it is just an app to post what you do in your daily life without anything else taking away from that authenticity.

Reception

BeReal has become one of the most popular social media apps in the past year especially among target demographic, Gen Z. Growing up with apps like Instagram and Snapchat, BeReal attempts to combat “social media fatigue” for this generation by acting as a rather “boring” alternative, as most only open the app a few times a day. The longevity of the app is uncertain, and writers from Wired claim that “BeReal represents the latest iteration in the cycle of social media sites that spring from the push-and-pull tension of authenticity and performance.” The nature of the app encourages users to continue to use the app daily, although if BeReal fails to continue trending its users may give up on “being real” altogether.

Despite its major popularity, there are many who disagree that the app is properly executing its goal. In a recent Buzzfeed article, different users comment on their experience with the app. 25 year old Kelly P. stated “It showed me last night that a bunch of our friends were celebrating one of my best friend’s engagements without me.” The app aims to show people that no one’s life is as glamorous as it seems, but that does not seem to stop friends from feeling left out. When comparing BeReal with other social media apps, writer Maeve Brown claims that “fake authenticity is worse than acknowledging curation.” Despite it’s best efforts to encourage transparency, some feel that it can often have the opposite effect.

References

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kelseyweekman/bereal-app-authentic-social-media https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeReal https://www.yahoo.com/video/bereal-founders-built-social-media-120200210.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMItlpf74Vm_tfH0IUEJFjG0_XcWydmezEj_A5GHxo2DrnvG7Rard9F7VYFCtb-Q2MVLeIgX_xc_OM2VfKh35DAWsP96pkC1NrGe96rNNEf3hsJbxlE1LMV4rARVtFxjm00QR3trdSCli6ztzmxljEUmpFtXcMrUfqafeCp9yEmh https://www.thewrap.com/innovators-2022-bereal-alexis-barreyat-kevin-perreau/ https://influencermarketinghub.com/what-is-bereal/#toc-1

https://www.wired.com/story/bereal-doomed-online-authenticity/