A new social media app is spreading on college campuses and looking to answer the question everyone is asking: What are my friends doing on a random Thursday afternoon?
The app is called BeReal. It’s a photo-sharing app like Facebook or Instagram where users can upload photos for their friends to see. Unlike other platforms, BeReal encourages its users to share their lives in real-time instead of with the planned and edited posts often seen on other apps.
Though it launched in 2019, the app has only taken off recently. At least 65% of its lifetime downloads have taken place this year and the app’s monthly active users have grown by 315% in 2022, according to Apptopia.
It has also become popular on other social media platforms. The hashtag “bereal” has over 305 million views on TikTok and many videos about BeReal can be found on TikTok’s discover page.
Every day, users are notified at a random time that it is time to “BeReal.” Users have two minutes to take and share a photo. The app uses both the front and back-facing camera to show both the person and what they are doing. Users cannot browse through photos until they have posted their own to prevent “lurking.”
The goal of BeReal is to get an authentic look into someone’s life. There are no filters to cover up any blemishes or bad lighting. So, if your hair is a mess and you have not gotten out of bed yet, there is no hiding it.
The appeal to many users is the intimacy of the app. People’s feeds have not been overrun with celebrities and brands.
Social feeds on BeReal are often filled with mundane things such as doing homework, making dinner or folding laundry. Limiting users to one post a day also means there is not an overload of posts to scroll through.
Users say that the app allows them to keep up with friends whom they do not get to spend much time with.
“Obviously I have friends that I get to talk to every day and it’s cool to see what they’re doing,” Nico Budde, a digital arts major, said. “But there are also friends I don’t see that often and it’s nice to keep in touch with them and see what they’re doing.”
BeReal does pose privacy concerns for some users. The app automatically shares your location with your post unless the setting is disabled. Posting every day can also give the app and its users data on your habits and location.
Despite privacy concerns, the app has continued to become increasingly popular with college students.
“It’s no different from Snapchat,” anthropology major Gracie Bass said. “The Snap Map lets people see where I am already. I’m not really worried.”