The hunger for authenticity on social media has been around for years. We recently saw the phenomenon in the form of outpourings about you burnout on LinkedIn. Also the hashtag ‘no filter’ on Instagram fits in with a trend where we want to share the least embellished version of ourselves and our lives; it may even be a sleazy version of yourself.
The trend of authenticity continues with the BeReal app, which is popular among young people. In April, about 2.9 million people worldwide used the app. In comparison, TikTok has about a billion users. Since a week, BeReal has been the most downloaded application among Android and iOS users, and rises above TikTok in that list.
The aim of BeReal is to give you the most accurate insight into your life. The design of the app discourages a long wait before posting a photo. For example, there is more room for everyday life, and less for the ubiquitous through-directed image material on Instagram. Prepared plates become bags of donuts, stylishly decorated interiors become cluttered rooms and fit girls become sweaty, red-faced heads.
After using the app for a few weeks I notice: it’s nice to be unadorned and to share that with friends. But how long will socially desirable authenticity remain fun?
BeReal was founded in 2020 by ex-GoPro employee Alexis Barreyat, about whom little is known. Since the spring of 2021, the number of BeReal downloads has grown exponentially. It is not entirely clear what explains the sudden rise. Could it be that now that the corona crisis is on the back burner, young people want to feel more connected by sharing the everyday, in order to break the grind of a catch-up summer full of festivals and holidays?
Any time
BeReal users receive a notification every day, at a random time: you and your friends are simultaneously asked to post a photo. If you don’t do that within two minutes, you can still participate, but at the top of your photo it will clearly state that you are late –’7h‘, ‘2min‘ or ‘50min‘ late. You can choose to share photos only with friends, or publicly.
How the design of the app stimulates everyday life becomes clear when I spend half an hour Discovery mode scroll, where users post photos publicly. The vast majority of the footage consists of photos of young people lying in bed, watching a series at home or on the road: an intimate, somewhat boring look into everyday life. Is this now an accurate representation? Or is it the moments when most users are actively on their phones and therefore a late post place?
punished
About the rigid side of BeReal wrote TeenVogue : “The concept of BeReal is similar to Snapchat, but you can’t edit. And re-taking a photo is penalized by showing your friends how many attempts you made before you thought the photo was good enough.”
There is apparently a limit to authenticity for some users: you want to quickly draw a nicer head or put a mess out of sight. And how unfavorable is a poorly lit photo showing your perfect acrylic nails? Vanity takes many forms.