It’s no secret that social media is well known for being the filtered, choreographed version of what everyone is up to each day – the highlight reel.
Social Media is also a powerful business tool, products and people need to paint a picture to be attractive to the buyer.
The thing is even us mere adults who have mature and rational cognitive skills can fall victim to the blurred lines of reality on social media so it’s not surprising, with their developing minds, our children and teenager’s struggle to know what’s real.
Queue the latest social media offering BeReal
BeReal is built on the concept of being authentic and presenting images as you are – unfiltered. The app sends users a ‘Time to BeReal!’ alert at different times each day giving you 2 minutes to post a photo. Using the front and rear cameras BeReal takes a selfie and a POV photo. No filters, No likes, No Followers and No Hashtags just Real people doing Real things. The app is marketed as a way to keep up with what your friends are doing every day. BeReal does not have commercial functionality.
Once set up you can add friends directly from the app using the suggestions, discovery, search, requests, or invitations features. These features can be found by clicking the icon with the two people. Similar to most social media platforms you can accept or decline requests to connect and through the discovery feed you have the ability to add new contacts. Every account by default is private so only your friends can see your daily BeReal. However, you can make your posts visible in the discovery feed by changing your settings or indicating when posting your photo.
BeReal is currently one of the most downloaded apps in Australia and is gaining popularity by the minute. Unsurprisingly, Meta and TikTok are scrambling to clone BeReal with their own authentic offering. Instagram has prototyped IG Candid which isn’t public yet and TikTok has created TikTok Now. Snapchat also now has Dual- Camera Mode to compete in this authentic space.
Brett’s BeReal Review
When speaking to parents BeReal is an app I am being asked about constantly due to its popularity amongst school aged children. Like all online activity, the more informed you are about what apps your child is using and how they are using them, the easier it is to assess whether the platform is suitable for your family.
I can see what BeReal is trying to achieve here by promoting authenticity in social media, almost an anti-social media statement. Here are my pros and cons when considering BeReal for your child or teenager.
Also, check out the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy to be informed about the responsibility of the user and BeReal itself.
