How did a simple social media platform earn the power to get millions of users to drop what they are doing to take a picture?
What is BeReal?
BeReal is a social media app that captured the attention of people all over the world. It was initially released in 2020 by Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau, but its popularity did not grow until early to mid-2022. According to Sensor Tower, in September of 2022, BeReal had around 14.7 million installs, making it a total of over 50 million installs since BeReal was launched.
BeReal is different from many other social media platforms because it encourages people to post unfiltered, more authentic, content. At a different time each day, every user receives a notification that says “Time to BeReal,” and they have two minutes to post a picture of what they are doing at that time. The app takes a picture with both the front and back camera, and there is not much time to get ready once you start. The app does allow you to retake your pictures as many times as you would like within the two minutes, but when posted, it will show everyone how many retakes you took.
Once you post, you can look at everyone else’s posts to see what they are doing. BeReal also gives you the opportunity to comment and/or react to other people’s posts, by taking a picture of yourself making a face as a reaction. These are called “RealMojis,” and they can be viewed by anyone on BeReal who has access to that person’s post.
What happens if you don’t post in time?
If you do not post within the two minute time limit you are still able to post. When this happens, anyone who follows you will receive a notification on their phone that says you posted late. This encourages people to keep going back to the app to see what more of their friends are doing. Each BeReal will have a time stamp on it, which can be viewed by holding down the picture. If you post late, the picture will show how many seconds or minutes late it was posted.
So what makes BeReal so popular?
Today, so many people are glued to their phones. The BeReal alert goes off at a different time every day, so users are always waiting to see when the notification will pop up on their phones. Social media usage is one of the main ways friends communicate and share what is going on in their lives. However, most platforms allow you to apply filters and only post what you want others to see. With BeReal, there are no filters involved and you cannot edit the photos after taking them.
With so many people on social media, people are always interested in what their friends are doing and where they are at. This app allows people to do just that.
Could BeReal get old?
Even though BeReal has grown very popular, the app does not call for more activity once you post. The app’s simplicity may seem like it would get old, but so many people still eagerly await the BeReal alert each day. For the time being, BeReal does not seem like there will be much more that is added to it, but it will be interesting to see if the app’s activity will remain steady, or eventually decrease because of this.
BeReal continues to grow rapidly all around the world and each day users are excited to show off what they are doing and to see what their friends are doing. Overall, it is both fascinating and scary when you really think about how this app has been able to influence so many people at once. It has gained the power to get everyone on the app to do something at the same time every day, and each day its users continue to feel the urgent need to post once the notification pops up on their screens.