BeReal is a social network that doesn’t want to be one. It comes off as a sort of anti-Tiktok and anti-Instagram. And makes its users look pretty boring most of the time.
There it is again, the notification from the BeReal app to take two photos within two minutes. One “normal” and one with flipped camera, selfie mode. The message comes every day, but it’s still unexpected. It’s very likely that you’re sitting at your desk again or lolling around on the sofa and end up looking a little tormented and with greasy hair at the camera. The other, larger photo often shows a desk or sofa with space. And a shadow will probably fall on it somewhere rather unfavorably. Nothing really exciting. everyday life. Everything should be completely authentic.
After all, BeReal advertises with the slogan “Your real friends”. No wonder that most photos deviate from the conventional beauty standards on social media. Here people sometimes have a double chin. It’s a social network that aspires to be “not another social media”. Unfiltered through the circle of friends.
And that goes down well. The app was founded in 2020 by French entrepreneurs Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau and has been downloaded millions of times since then. In the USA, many media have recently reported on BeReal, from the “Wall Street Journal” to “Vice” to the “New Yorker”. The app is particularly popular with Generation Z, the younger users. “Teen Vogue” credits her with an empowering and liberating twist.
BeReal relies on snapshots
Becoming an influencer is likely to be more difficult at BeReal than elsewhere. No pictures can be uploaded, only those that are recorded in the app. If someone opens their photo late, it will be displayed. If you haven’t shared one yet, you can’t view other people’s pictures yet. Communication options are more limited on BeReal than on other networks. The reactions are individualized in the form of Realmojis. Instead of sharing a sad or tearful emoji, BeReal lets you take a picture of yourself and then look sad or laugh or give a thumbs up.
But how do you respond appropriately to a photo taken while working from home with a plate of dried spaghetti on your desk? Thumbs up for gainful employment? However, the notification from BeReal can also fall during the performance with the orchestra, as these photos of a user show:
BeReal would probably be nothing for Elon Musk
There are several reasons why BeReal in most cases lacks the glitz and holiday bliss of other networks: the lack of filters, the pressure of not choosing the best of all possible photos. And then there is the fact that many people spend a lot of time at work or on the sofa and especially in these times have their mobile phone with them. If you’re hiking or swimming, in the cinema or at a concert, you (hopefully) don’t have your mobile phone in your hand all the time, but are simply in the moment. You and your friends for real.
When it comes to the app itself, they are self-confident. “FYI Elon, BeReal is not for sale,” BeReal’s Twitter account said recently. The app would probably be nothing for Elon Musk anyway. After all, the billionaire and Twitter buyer candidate has already campaigned for an editing function on Twitter. The opposite of the “authentic moments” that BeReal wants to stand for. And Musk’s life between space missions and building Teslas would be far too exciting between all the sofa and desk photos, too.
Quellen: The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Teen Vogue, Twitter
