It’s time to BeReal! There’s a new social media app that teens and young adults are obsessed with. This app was designed for people to show an authentic un-edited photo from their everyday life. BeReal sends one notification at a different time every day and people have two minutes to post their photo in time, otherwise their BeReal is late. There are people who will wait to post their BeReal until they’re doing something fun or hanging out with friends to make themselves seem super cool. 

     On the app there is an expectation to post because otherwise you canít see your other friendsí posts. 

     As a staff, we believe that there is a sense of camaraderie on the app.  For example, BeReal went off recently at around 8:00 p.m. on a school night, and many people were doing the same thing that night, at home working on homework. The app in a way has brought people together and made people feel less alone because it makes you realize your typical weeknight is not much different than someone else that is your age. Thus, the app is low-pressure. However, BeReal has the capacity to become inauthentic with some waiting for fun moments to post. The late notice that your friends get helps prevent this. Be Real does, however, make the pictures themselves more authentic because there are no filters. The amount of retakes taken is also visible, which helps eliminate the toxicity some apps like Instagram have. Instagram allows the user to sort through countless pictures to find the one perfect one, with BeReal, this isnít an option. The intention and execution of the app is what makes it so special, there isnít an endless scroll and there are no ìlikesî, this gets rid of the addictive parts most other social media have.

     The nice thing about BeReal is you donít leave a digital footprint, which is partly why this app, according to the staff, doesnít feel very much like social media. While you can look through your old memories, you wonít be held to them for the entire world to see. 

     BeReal is something that you canít be famous for, your posts are only shared with you and your friends.  Our advice to the community is, If you’re not on the train donít even bother. This means if you donít have BeReal donít feel pressure to download it, you’re not missing out on anything. This is an app where you can post a picture at a random time of the day and see your friends and their posts of what they’re doing. 

     BeReal provides a form of social media very different from Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and other popular social media. The user is unable to view their friends BeReal posts until they post their own. BeReal doesnít use algorithms or advertisements to try and keep its users on the app. BeReal is what you make of it. If you want to use it you can, but there is little pressure to join the media platform.