BeReal: Behind the Filters

Behind the Filters

New social media app promotes transparency

by Olivia Bennett

You feel your phone buzz in your pocket and check your notifications. You see the words “Time to BeReal!”. You yell, “BeReal” to your friends, gather them together, and ask a stranger to take your photo. This phenomenon is taking the world by storm.

The new French social media platform is climbing the app store charts as the leading social media for teenagers around the world.

With 10 million daily active users, the app has become worth $600 million. CEO of BeReal Alexis Barreyat says that he created the app as a response to the current social media landscape being “unideal and unbelievable”.

BeReal alarms users once a day to share a fast, unfiltered, unedited, perfectly imperfect photo of whatever they may be doing.

Using the front and rear cameras at the same time, the app gives users a two-minute time frame to snap the image.

The app prioritizes unforced and candid photos of yourself and whatever may be going on around you.

Many prefer BeReal over other types of social media because it is carefree.

“I think it’s good for people to see the unfiltered version of others and not only post the positive or fun things you’re doing but the boring things too,” Caroline Easler (’26) said. An April 14, 2022 article “How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers” from the Child Mind Institute states that other social media platforms have had negative effects on teens by exposing them to unrealistic views of other people’s lives. “Looking on Instagram see-

“ing these ‘perfect’ people low ers my self-esteem and some The point of Bereal is to be times makes me feel like I’m not good enough,” Arianna in the moment and careless Davis (’23) said. Unlike other social media ” platforms, you cannot follow people on BeReal, you can only be mutually friended. You are unable to “like” other people’s posts, which reduces the anxiety some may feel, but there is also an option to capture a photo of yourself reacting to the image your friend has posted. Users can also comment on their friends’ photos for a limited time each day. “I like the fact that you don’t have to worry or care about how many likes or followers you have because the point of BeReal is to be in the moment and careless,” Alex Bentley (‘25) said. BeReal works by notifying all users of the app once daily, every day at a different time but the same notification for each user. The notification reads, “Time to BeReal”. If you miss the two minute window you have

After recieving a notification Sept. 2, at the Catawba Ridge v.s Nation Ford football game, students gather with their friends to capture their BeReal apps.

to snap the image, you have the option to post a “late BeReal, ‘’ and you will not be able to see your friends posts until you post your own.

There are no options to edit or filter the photo in any way. The image can only be seen until the next notification goes off.

“BeReal is a better form of social media because you cannot edit the photos, which makes it real. It also teaches people to not be as insecure and care what other people think as much,” Harrison Collette (‘25) said.

Over time your BeReal’s from each day are saved to your “memories,” which will then leave you with a collection of personal, candid memories that last a lifetime.

“I like that BeReal saves my memories so I can look back and remember all of the fun times with my friends,” Charlotte Overman (‘25) said.