BeReal – How the social media app works.

The app BeReal is on the rise. With unposed pictures, it wants to fight the filtered and staged competition on Instagram and TikTok. The catch: a very young target group reveals a lot about itself through the photos.

The concept of the BeReal app

“Be real” – as the name suggests, the BeReal app is designed to be natural. The social media application wants to win over young people in particular, who can no longer do anything with posed and filtered photos on Instagram and the like.

• Like Snapchat, BeReal can also be used to send photos to friends or receive them yourself. But the clue to the story is the daily challenges.
• Users of the app get a push notification once a day at any time with the text “Time to BeReal”. They then have two minutes to take a photo.

• A BeReal taken after these two minutes will be marked as “Too Late”, as the purpose of the app is to take unfiltered instant photos.

• The picture is taken in the BeReal app itself and has a special feature: a photo is taken with the front camera and with the selfie camera at the same time. However, the user only sees one camera perspective, the second remains a surprise until it is completed. The result: a picture within a picture, similar to video telephony.

• The user can now send this picture to his friends, who can then see where he is, what he is doing and how he looks. However, they can only open the photo if they start and send a BeReal snapshot themselves.

• Staged and edited photos, as they are rampant on social media, are therefore not possible with BeReal. A trend that many users long for. But it is not without risks.

• After publishing your BeReal, you can access the “Discover” section and see what your friends have posted.

Loss of control and data protection: risks of BeReal

As funny and informal as BeReal appears at first glance, the app originating from France must be viewed critically.

• The social media application is recommended for users aged 13 and over – just like Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Co. It is also predominantly the young generation that, after funny dance videos on TikTok, now turns to unposed photos on BeReal.

• Parents should keep an eye on what children and young people are doing on apps like BeReal. After all, the pictures can not only be exchanged between friends, but also shared with the public.

• This means that everyone can see where a user is in real time. A photo from the local lido, the walk home from school or the park can show strangers exactly where you or your child is.

• The fact that the user cannot determine the timing of the photo also results in a loss of control. Pictures may be taken in more private situations such as in bed in the evening or with unflattering facial expressions while chilling on the couch.

• Of course, it is up to each user to decide whether to take part in BeReal’s challenges. However, peer pressure and curiosity can quickly ensure that one joins in in order to be able to see the pictures of the other users.