BeReal: Social media’s newest attempt to be authentic

By Morgan Howland

It is a normal day of scrolling through Instagram. You see models posing with perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect bodies.

“How can people look so perfect?” You think. Well, they aren’t perfect. In today’s society, it has become common to use filters and editing on social media apps such as Instagram or Snapchat. This can take a negative toll on one’s self esteem and body confidence. A new app, BeReal, is meant to encourage people to be more authentic, instead of trying to present their best (fake) selves.

Founded by Alexis Barreyat in 2020, BeReal is a social media app that emphasizes showing real, filterless life. It works by sending a notification to users to share a photo from whatever they are doing during a randomly selected two-minute window each day. The notification time varies everyday, so users never know when the alert will pop up. After posting on BeReal for the day, users can see all of the BeReals from users they follow. If you do not post that day you cannot look at other users’ posts.

Social media has become a part of our daily lives, but so have the toxic standards most apps convey. According to onlinetherapy.com, more than half of social media users who are adversely affected by apps report depression (56 percent), dissatisfaction with life (52 percent), fear of missing out (52 percent), and body image issues (51 percent).

BeReal photos cannot be edited, cropped or filtered. If a user misses the two-minute window to post, they can post later in the day, but their post is marked as late so other users know it was not spur of the moment. Currently ranked fifth in Social Networking on the Apple Store, the app’s popularity is increasing fast. According to apptopia,com, its monthly active users have increased by 315 percent since the beginning of 2022.

The message of the app is not clear to every user. Some are unaware of the goal to be authentic, and simply see BeReal as another social media app. “I love the app. I think it is a great way to see what other people are doing and to capture fun moments in your life,” said WHS Senior Bella Panora.

As BeReal continues to grow as a new app, so might the positive message it aims to send about being more genuine online.