Created by French developer Alexis Barreyat in 2020, BeReal is a photo-sharing application that is promoting the idea of real-time, authentic snapshots to share with friends. Hence the name.
The app requests users to post untouched glimpses into their daily lives, during a continually changing 2-minute window. These posts are taken in the form of photos, snapped on your mobile’s front-facing and back-facing camera simultaneously.
An alert-style notification is sent to all users at the same time, with a message stating it’s “time to BeReal”, accompanied by a yellow warning sign. It is at this moment, no matter where you are, or what you’re doing, you should upload a photo.
So it’s likely you’ll have lots of pictures of your friend and their dog, as opposed to glossy, Facetuned shots taken from last weekend!
It is crucial to note that, if you choose not to upload a photo, then you won’t be able to see what your friends have posted.
Just this month, the app was recorded as #1 on the App Store in the US! According to Apptopia, daily downloads of the app have grown by 315%, as of January.
In an article published recently by NBC news, Matt Navarra, a social media analyst stated that it aligns with a growing trend amongst younger people who are seeking more organic experiences.
Moreover, he explained that “there’s an interest in something authentic and less staged, and that actually don’t require huge amounts of investment to participate in or be a member of.”
To play on this theme, the app has prevented certain features such as no filters, and the inability to see what the front camera is actually capturing before sending (stopping you from trying to take the ‘perfect’ angle shot).
What if I miss the two-minute time slot to post?
If you aren’t able to or simply aren’t in the mood to post in the two-minute window the app has each time, nothing major really happens.
BeReal does however tell people that you posted “late” (what a snitch), and your friends are notified each time that you post. There isn’t any feature like ‘streaks’ on Snapchat that you’ll lose out on, so don’t worry.
Who can view my posts?
When you upload onto your BeReal app, you can decide whether you want just your friends to see, or you can post it publicly, where anyone who uses the app can view it via the Discovery tab.
How can I add my friends?
Much like every other social media application out there, in order to sign up for the app, you will need to create a username. This is an easy way to search up other people’s usernames and add them. The Discovery section of the app is another way where you can discover other accounts to add, ones that you may not know personally. Lastly, you can also give the app access to your contacts when you first join, to speed up the process.
Clever move from #BeReal to make today’s posting window right in the middle of the #KyDerby.
— Scott Sandalow (@ScottSandalow) May 8, 2022
Interesting to scroll through Friends and Discovery to get so many different perspectives of the race. pic.twitter.com/8X9HSMbtkX
Moreover, BeReal permits you to respond to your friend’s photos that they post with a ‘Realmoji’ aka you impersonating an emoji. So let’s say you find something funny, instead of sending over an actual laughing face emoji, you would have to reenact and convey that particular reaction. Creative huh?
Although the app is witnessing staggering levels of growth since becoming highly popular on platforms such as TikTok, some are quite skeptical as to how long this will last.
One person on Twitter explained how it is “the most stressful two minutes” when you receive the BeReal notification and “have to find something interesting to be doing”. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of the app…
Many users complained that their upload’s “take so long” to post and expressed how “annoying” it is.
In his interview about the app to NBC news, analyst Navarra went on to say:
“After a while, you’re kind of seeing the same people at work at their desk or lying in the park and walking to the pier — that doesn’t last very long, that doesn’t keep you hooked in.”
Referencing that the application has a lack of innovation to keep users hooked.
Further concluding “it needs to bring on more people. It needs to give people more functionality and features in there. It needs to create an environment that’s going to give space for advertisers to do what they need to do”.
BeReal is available for download both on the Google Play & App Store.
Do you currently use the app? Tweet us with your answer @itpliveme