Your friends “for real” is the app's promise.
Once a day you’re pinged with a notification giving you two minutes to “be real” and take a photo of what you're up to. One viral TikTok video showed a girl had to “be real” at her grandfather’s funeral.
But this week a post from two NSW police officers on the app landed them in real trouble.
The officers have had their weapons confiscated, been removed from active duty and are being investigated after posing with their guns in a BeReal post.
What is BeReal?
The app intends to cut through the highly-curated, highly-staged use of other social media platforms, according to its makers. And there are obstacles designed to maximise the possibility of authenticity.
It only allows you to see what your friends are doing once you’ve posted your own candid photo.
You're advised not to retake a photo – and if you do, it shares with your friends how many careful attempts it took. If you take an image late, it’s labelled accordingly.
The app also captures a picture from both the front and back camera so that you see what is being framed as well as what’s behind the camera.
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The BeReal notification which is alerts users to post at any time once a day. Credit: BeReal
There's also an unspoken shame among users if you're the one who takes the 'relaxed' platform too seriously. Posting five hours late while you're out doing something fun would be an atrocity, for example.
BeReal: Still one of the most downloaded apps in Australia
Despite - or because of - the stark differences between BeReal and other social media, the app has become increasingly popular. Currently, the French-founded platform, which launched in 2019, is the most downloaded app on Australia's Apple App Store. It has been for months.
For 25-year-old student Emma Hilton, the app validates the lulls of life and the big portions of time spent performing tedious yet normal tasks.
"Often I'm just in bed whenever it goes off, and I guess that's half the beauty of it," Emma told The Feed in August.
Emma Hilton has been using 'BeReal' for a month and says the "low-stakes" app gives her authentic glimpses into the lives of her friends. Credit: Supplied
Within a month of joining the app, Emma admits to delaying the occasional snap, particularly times that align with bathroom visits.
"I'm sure the few people I have would really appreciate it if I wasn't being real right now," she said.
"Occasionally, if I've been in bed too much, I'll wait until I'm making dinner but it's never anything too interesting."
Its intimacy is part of the charm for Emma. On the app, it's only her and about 10 close friends. She believes it's why it works.
"Instagram posts are very much the highlights of your life. And it's so contrived, regardless of how you use it because you want people to have a certain perception of you," she said. "I like how mundane it [BeReal] is."
The lack of endless scrolling is also a selling point.
"It's low effort and occupies a very small part of my brain and day. You kind of dip in and dip out," Emma said.
Can it stand the test of time?
Tama Leaver, a Professor of Internet Studies at Perth's Curtin University who researches social media, is a firm disbeliever. He said the app's premise and novelty won't last.
"Authenticity is the great myth of social media, nothing on social media is authentic," Mr Leaver told The Feed.
"Social media is framed and performative, this just does it in a different way."
Jo Price, who has been on the app for three months more than Emma, said she's strayed from the app's initial mission statement.
"I don't use it very authentically and will postpone adding a photo until something interesting is happening," the 37-year-old told The Feed in a message.
"I appreciate that people treat it more like a photo-a-day challenge because it would be very boring to look at otherwise."
What does human nature tell us?
Ash King, a psychologist and researcher with the cyberpsychology research group at the University of Sydney, said while the app makes clear efforts to achieve its goal, it’s still a social media platform where users only reveal what they want others to see.
She said the ability to accrue followers means users will consciously or unconsciously start curating what they are posting.
“There’s nothing much the app can do for that - we’re social creatures built to seek status and community. And even with restrictions, we’ll likely find a way to seek status and community in the ways that we present ourselves,” Ms King said in a statement to The Feed.
On Twitter, one user of BeReal echoed the sentiment: "Do you ever see the BeReal notification and ignore it because it's overwhelming?"
There is one silver lining, Ms King adds.
“But one upshot of the app is that it might prompt people to consider how it is they are spending their time … If you’re concerned about the substance of your BeReal ‘Memories’ perhaps that’s a call to re-evaluate how you’d prefer your life to look?”
Refreshing ... for now
Mr Leaver said most other established social media platforms are "beginning to feel bloated," as they pinch from one another and try to compete with the other offerings. He said the simplicity of BeReal is, for now, refreshing.
At the moment, he says the app poses no more privacy or security concerns than others and said users were savvy enough to know the risks of disclosing where they are at any given time.
But one of the big "ifs" which could determine its longevity is how it plans to make money. Mr Leaver suspects it is following the common business model of attracting users before monetising the platform with ads.
"The only way that it will continue to be relevant is to slowly build the sort of tools that every other platform has," he said.
Tim Hill on BeReal and Instagram. Credit: Supplied.
"They need to be satisfied in the niche and know they'll never be a mass-adopted app. I think that's probably a pathway to really solid usage and a way not to piss people off over time."
The Feed has sought comment from BeReal.
