Recently gaining popularity, the app BeReal is now the #1 app for social networking according to the Apple App Store. Though you may not have heard of the app until this year, it’s been around for a while. The French social media app BeReal has recently risen to fame in mid 2022. BeReal is an app purposed to help you see “your friends for real”, labeling itself as “not another social network”. It works by sending a daily notification simultaneously to every user at any time in the day. Users then have two minutes to take and post a picture of what they’re doing, which will be taken from both their front and back cameras.
BeReal is an app that has addressed social media’s problem of posed or fake content, where people complain that posts aren’t “real” enough. By giving users a two minute window to take a picture with no warning, the app ensures that people share their daily lives, not just the highlights. If users post their Bereal after the two-minute window, the app won’t let them see other BeReals and will show how late they were on their post. The app allows users to retake the pictures before posting, but it will show how many times they retake their picture. Also, app users are limited to one chance to delete their BeReal and post another one; they can’t replace it multiple times. In addition, users can see who shared their BeReal to other people. All they need to do is share their BeReal with a friend and they can “unlock” the feature to uncover the user’s mystery identity. All these restrictions and features add on to the “real” aspect of the posts.
The app was developed by Alexis Barreyat and Kevin Perreau in 2020. Beginning with two people, it still has under 30 employees. When the app was first launched, it had only a few users. In 2021, BeReal experienced its first growth, with most users being in France. After that, it spread rapidly. As of September 2022, the app has over 28 million downloads. It has over 10 million active daily users, showing just how many people have made posting on this app part of their day.
Some relate BeReal’s success to that of Wordle, an online game in which there is a daily word puzzle. The fact that there is one daily BeReal keeps users from being addicted, but the notification keeps them coming back each day. The limit on posts per day maintains user excitement to post on the app, making sure people don’t get bored over time.
Due to BeReal’s popularity, Tiktok and Instagram have created their own copied versions of the app within theirs. In July, Instagram introduced “Dual”, named after the feature of allowing people to take pictures with both cameras at the same time. Reportedly, Instagram is working on something called “Candid Challenges”, which includes the timed feature that BeReal has. In September, “Tiktok Now” was introduced to the public, desperately trying to advertise the feature to Tiktok users. Although many social media apps have attempted to steal BeReal’s spotlight, users still end up gravitating towards this one-of-a-kind app.
Let’s BeReal, this app is a social media sensation.
