We talk a lot about Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, but now there is a new photo-sharing social media platform rising in popularity. It is time we pay some attention to the new app BeReal.
With the rise of people looking for authenticity in their social media, BeReal has taken the world by storm by creating a platform based on authenticity and being true to ourselves and the moments we live in. It has cut down the time people spend scrolling through their never-ending feeds and has allowed users to enjoy their time connecting with friends and sharing their day-to-day lives with no filters, no edits, and no stress.
Now, after all that, the million-dollar question is, what is this new and improved social media platform?
What is BeReal?
BeReal is a photo-sharing app that prompts users to post one unfiltered and unprepared picture a day. Not only is it one picture, but BeReal takes a photo from the front and back camera for users and their friends to see what they are doing and how their day is at that exact time.
While this is a new app in the eyes of the current users, BeReal was created in late 2019 and only now has had a spike in popularity. At the beginning of this year, BeReal has risen 315% in the number of downloads and is currently ranking as the fourth most downloaded social media app behind Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
How Does BeReal Work?
BeReal works by sending a notification to all its users at the same random time. This time changes each day, but no matter when it is, users have two minutes to open the app and post a picture of what they are doing at that moment.
Users can post late if they miss the deadline of two minutes. However, when they do eventually post, their friends will get a notification to say that they posted late. Whether posted on time or late, users are unable to see their friends’ pictures until they post. Incentives like this encourage users to post about their days, even if they are boring, mundane, or crazy. BeReal wants to push its users to be authentic to themselves and their daily activities.
BeReal allows for users’ daily photos to only be shared with their friends. The app’s main menu has two columns, one for friends and one for discovery, where users can see photos from people worldwide. If users wish for their own photos to pop up in the discovery feed, there is a setting to turn on to make the photos public. However, initially, BeReal keeps the photo-sharing capabilities intimate with those they are friends with.
A New Way To React
Once users have posted their daily photo onto BeReal, they are able to look through friends’ photos. Unlike other social media apps where users can like, love, or react to pictures with a click of a button, BeReal implemented a new way to show friends how users really feel about their pictures.
In order to engage with their pictures, users must take a reaction selfie. Like the original daily photo, there are no edits or filters, leaving this reaction selfie authentic and true to how they feel about the picture and giving users and their friends a chance to make funny faces and interact differently. Along with reaction selfies, BeReal also allows users to comment on pictures.
Bringing a New Level of Authenticity
BeReal wanted to create a social media platform where people shared their days, activities, and themselves without the stress and fakeness that other platforms provide. For users of all kinds, this can be a great way to share the mundane and the fun parts of your days and get to see what your friends and people around you are up to at the same time.
While this platform is not targeted at businesses or ads, authenticity is a significant aspect of business that people are currently looking for. Making a brand or business look more down to Earth, human, and connected with their community can help show their audiences that there is not a wall between them. One company, Chipotle, took to BeReal to try out its new features. Chipotle stays true to the no filter, no preparation, and no edits and posts genuine pictures of food creation and business transparency to help grow honesty within the brand.
BeReal is a chance to show the authentic you, one picture at a time. Would you add BeReal to your list of social media platforms?