BFFR about BeReal
For those of you who don’t know, BeReal is a social media app which started gaining popularity a couple of months into 2022. The premise of the app is that each day at a different time BeReal sends a notification to all of the app’s users, alerting them that they have 2 minutes to take their BeReal. You are supposed to stop whatever you are doing and use the app to take two almost simultaneous pictures using your front and back camera. The idea of the app is to get a candid glimpse into the lives of your friends, but the app allows you to post after the two minutes have elapsed with a little note under the picture about how late you posted your BeReal. Once the next day’s BeReal notification has gone off, you can no longer see what your friends posted on previous days, but the app does allow you to see your own past BeReals.
Here is a silly one of my dog Sasha. While a lot of the people do use the app as intended, I hear a lot of complaints about how people wait to post their BeReal when they are doing something cool or aesthetically pleasing. I myself am very guilty of this (turns out the BeReal notification did not go off coincidentally every time I was at a concert).
I get why people get upset about this because it does in some ways defeat the purpose of authenticity that the app is trying to promote. But I still feel that the app does eliminate some of the issues with other social media platforms. There are no face-changing filters or presets and the app lets your friends know how many times that you retook the BeReal to get that flattering angle. Also, there are some days when you really aren’t doing anything cool at all, and the app forces you to show that side of your life. Here are some of me when the most interesting thing going on in my life was probably a PSET.
One hot take I have on BeReal is that to be honest, I would much rather see the coolest or funniest part of your day than a random picture of you in the Reg. So go ahead, BeFake. I think the real point of the app is just to have another way to connect with your friends and see a part of their lives you might not otherwise see. It’s the modern day streaks! We are all just desperate for another way to connect with other people and while it’s probably not the best that we turn to social media for that, the app does provide a great way to start conversations with friends you don’t get to see everyday besides a generic Instagram comment when they post every few months.
Here are some of my favorite BeReals
