BeReal is a relatively new addition to the social media space that encourages users to share pictures of themselves in the moment, making it a popular choice amongst people who are tired of apps like Instagram giving users endless control of pictures with filters, effects, and edits. Although the app was released in 2020, BeReal has gained renewed interest in 2022, with downloads increasing by around 390 percent since 2021. BeReal is similar to social media apps such as Snapchat or Instagram in that it is focused primarily on sharing pictures with friends on the app. The difference though is that BeReal tries to be, well, more “real” than the competition.
Users of the app only have two minutes to take a picture when the notification arrives and most people will not have a chance to get the perfect lighting or use filters to make themselves look different from reality. Not only does BeReal post a selfie of the person, but simultaneously, the app uses the rear camera to take a picture of the surroundings of the user, to show what the user looks like at that moment and what they were doing. This new approach gives users less control over their pictures but makes up for the lack of control with a more authentic representation of each user.
So, why would people want to use BeReal to post pictures at unspecified times in ways that may be embarrassing? Well, in the world of apps with unrealistic filters, effects, and perfectly lit environments, there is less reality online than ever before. Apps like Instagram and Snapchat all give users as much time as they want to get the perfect picture or video and the filters provided by the apps allow users to make a version of themselves that’s as realistic or unrealistic as they desire. But there is a lack of authenticity that comes with allowing for an infinite amount of time to edit, pose for, and light a particular shot.
Bringing The Realness Back Into Social Media
And this is why BeReal is becoming so popular – it brings back that “realness” to social media. When a user is scrolling through BeReal, they can be somewhat confident that the pictures they are seeing are less likely to be fake, filtered, or fabrications of reality. BeReal attempts to give a genuine look into a user’s life each day with only two minutes to get it as perfect as possible in that time. Just as Twitter users cannot edit tweets (yet), BeReal users cannot edit their photos.
But will BeReal overtake Instagram or Snapchat in popularity? Only time will tell. There is nothing wrong with what Instagram does in comparison to BeReal. Taking the perfectly edited photo and sharing an amazing shot that took multiple tries to get just right is something worth appreciating. But there is also something magical and genuine about photos that are unedited and in the moment. That is where BeReal excels and why people are so interested in getting back some of that authenticity that many social media apps have lost.
