Being Candid on Social: The Message Behind BeReal 

It’s time to be real!

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about Gen-Z’s most real app! Every day at a random time, the app prompts users with a notification giving them two minutes to capture a BeReal – a photo that takes both a picture from the front of their camera and a selfie. At the same time, all of their friends’ posts from the same moment will appear on their feed. After two minutes, all photos disappear. Nowadays, most of what we see online is heavily curated, edited and far from “real.” Our social platforms are used as a highlight reel of our lives – we never show when we’re WFH in our sweats without our hair brushed, or post if we’re staying in and doing nothing on a Friday night. We only share the most exciting and glamorous aspects of our lives, whether it’s an influencer’s Instagram or a co-worker’s or a friend’s, what we see everyday is almost always curated and planned. 

We’ve gotta say, having to keep up with the narrative that our lives are always exciting, fun and aesthetic can be exhausting. As a collective, we’re not just getting tired of trying to maintain that image, but we’re also getting tired of seeing it all over the internet because we know that most of the time it’s just not real and genuine! With BeReal we’re forced to let go, and show up as authentic and real as we can be. People are loving the app so much because it’s quick, easy, refreshing and REAL. Plus, you know when the notification goes off at 2:00pm you’re not the only one hunched over your laptop trying to meet those work deadlines! 

For the time being, it doesn’t look like BeReal is replacing any of our go-to and more curated platforms like Instagram and TikTok, but instead is used as another more “real” app to add to our scrolling. We’re curious to see if this app will stick around into 2023, or if people will become tired of “being real” on the daily!