What’s the Deal about BeReal?

“My Be Real just popped!”

If you have spent any time working with teens, you’ve probably heard some utter this phrase and then pull out their cell phones and take a selfie. Social media is always changing and tweens and teens are always trying to find the next big thing, preferably one not taken over by adults, to connect with their peers. Enter a new social media platform called BeReal.

BeReal, as the name suggests, invites participants to have a more realistic social media presence. It’s emphasis isn’t on filters, but on authenticity. At least that is its marketing angle.

Here’s how BeReal works:

Your window to post opens once a day

Once you open your app, you have 2 minutes to take your photos

You don’t have to post the moment that the app notifies you your window is open, but once you open the app you then have those 2 minutes. So your window can open in 3rd period English, and it just sits there available for you. You can wait until after school to open the app and post, but once you do open it you then have 2 minutes to make your post.

It takes 2 pictures, 1 with the front facing camera and 1 with the rear facing camera

It does work on one very key difference: you can only post as certain times, and it is not always the same time of day. Your BeReal app will send you a signal for a brief period of time when it is open for you to post. My teen tends to exlaim things like, “oh, my BeReal just popped.” She gets the signal that it is now “open” for posting, takes a pic, and then posts. The benefit to this is that kids are not asked to be on an app 24/7. You have approximately 2 mintues to post your pic.

If you haven’t posted yet that day, to see your friends photos, you do have to post. You can not see your friends photos without posting one of your one.

So What Does it all Mean?

I talked to Thing 2 to help me write this post, and I asked a lot of clarifying questions because I wanted to understand how it all works and why teens like it.

One of the things that concerned me about the app was the 2 picture process. It is my understanding that BeReal asks you to post a photo that includes your surroundings, part of the let’s be more authentic appeal of the app. I am less excited about this part of the app and have had discussions with my kid about being safe in pictures and not including elements that can disclose too much personal information or your location. These are honestly conversations that all adults should be having with any person who uses social media. We’ve talked about what’s on our shirts (school logos), cars in the backgrounds (be careful of license plates), etc. I’ve seen my kid quickly turn her t-shirt around to take a pic so that her school info isn’t included. It’s important all social media users think about safety.

She also told me that she often just covers up the back camera and doesn’t really do the second photo; So the teens, as always, have thought about these things and have work arounds.

BeReal purpots to do several things better than traditional apps, one of which is privacy. You have the option to set up your BeReal account as private and you will only share your pics with those you invite into your space. You do have to stop and think about things like location settings on the app and, as mentioned above, you still need to think about what you share in a pic. I don’t feel that it is inherently more safe than other apps, per se, because most now have the option to go private, but we’ve also seen a lot in the news about how Twitter and Facebook often fail at even the privacy they promise. BeReal feels safer, which is not the same thing as necessarily being safer. But I think it can be safe with a proper set up, periodic privacy reviews, and some basic coaching about what online safety looks like.

BeReal also purports to promote more authenticity. If you have been reading any of the literature about social media, you will see that research seems to indicate that social media is negatively impacing teen mental health. The images that are shared are often retouched and promote an unattainable perfection and comparisons. Because of the way BeReal works, opening for certain times and having limited posting access, it does seem to take away some of this pressure. It also has no filters and with the time limits do seem to promote more authenticity. I have watched teens in messy buns and stained shirts post photos because that is what they were wearing and doing when their window popped and they enthusiastically went with it.

Currently, there does not appear to be any ads or influencers dominating the BeReal feed, which is one of the best parts about it. However, you can find articles that talk about ways brands can use BeReal to influence the market. I have some thoughts about this in the closing paragraph, but maybe just once we can let teens have a space of their own where the adults don’t invade and try and turn them into consumers. I know that’s asking a lot, but maybe constantly being viewed as a target for capitalism isn’t helping teen mental health either.

My youngest, age 14, and her friends are all BeReal users. My oldest, age 20, and her friends are not using it. So it definitely is something shiny and new that seems to be working with young teens. I was curious about the app so I did some research (which I share with you at the end of this article). I like the way it isn’t all consuming they way other apps are. With Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, there is the pressure to always be on the app and to always be “on”. Having raised one teenager through the rise of Snap and TikTok, I do prefer a lot of the workings of BeReal. It just doesn’t seem as all consuming as the other social media apps, by design.

Final Thoughts

I don’t hate BeReal, as a mom. I like the built in limitations.

As a librarian, I’m sure that there are many of us sitting around trying to figure out how we can use this app to connect with our teens. But maybe, just maybe, we can let them have this one. Just let them have a space that is for them that we aren’t trying to invade to connect with them. They’re all still on TikTok, which I think a lot of librarians are using well to promote libraries. The very limitations that make this a better app for teen mental health make it a less effective app for promotion. And honestly, it’s nice that teens can have a space – that my kid can have a space – where people aren’t always trying to sell them something, even if that something is libraries. It’s nice to see teens having a space where they can meet with their friends and not be a target, be viewed as a consumer. I’m here for that.

More Info about the App:

https://www.insider.com/what-is-bereal-app-how-does-it-work-2022-4#bereal-is-a-social-media-app-designed-to-showcase-life-without-filters-2

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/13/us/bereal-social-media-digital-cec/index.html

https://www.seventeen.com/life/tech-social-media/a40785700/be-real-app-safe-for-teens/

Filed under: Technology