Each day, at a completely random time, a notification sweeps across the screens of millions, each reading “It’s Time to BeReal.” Everyone scrambles to post a quick pic with their front and back camera—if they fail to upload a post within the two minutes, their post is late, and in turn considered fake. BeReal captured the attention of teenagers across America as it began trending in the beginning of summer. The app’s simplicity combined with its social features resulted in yet another social media platform necessary for most teens. The selling point was to show a more realistic part of everyone’s day-to-day life, compared to Instagram and Tik Toks’ more filtered and posed posts.

BeReal can be low pressure, as it encapsulates the more bland side of everyone’s day. Teens can share a more genuine look into their life. 

“BeReal is a fun way to see what your friends are up to all at the same time,” said senior Ella Thorsett. 

BeReal can also be used to connect more than just friends—some users have even convinced their family to post a daily BeReal. It can be a fun way to see what your long distance friends and family are up to. As time has passed, however, there has been a slow decline in users, questions surrounding the sustainability of BeReal’s popularity have begun circulating. 

“I think BeReal was kind of fun and new at first because it was a different app then the others, but after a while it got repetitive and it was the same thing every day,” said junior Shayna Roskoph. “I feel like it’s become less popular now.”  

A lot of students are losing interest in the app. Although the spontaneity is refreshing, the notification has become repetitive and often results in people being late. Posting from school or home can only be entertaining so many times, so for a lot of people, posting on BeReal now is only fun when there is something crazy happening. 

“I often find myself doing something fun with friends or out of the norm of my usual routine and hoping I get the BeReal notification,” said Kaiya Thomposn, an active BeReal user.

The app has become yet another highlight reel for teenagers in a society full of comparisons. If users are waiting to post until they’re doing something exciting, it only shows the best and most curated part of their lives—defeating the intention behind “BeReal.”

In light of BeReal blowing up, other social media platforms such as Snapchat and Tik Tok have attempted to copy its iconic features. For example, Tik Tok has added a new addition called “Be Now” where a user will get notified to upload one post a day that simultaneously takes a picture from your front and back camera. This is gaining far less attention as people already do this on BeReal. The parallels between the different platforms do not enhance them, but rather take away from their main purpose. Snapchat also tried to incorporate a dual camera for both the front and back camera. However, most teens use Snapchat to communicate rather than take ‘in the moment’ pics. 

Regardless of the longevity of BeReal, the company is now valued at 600 million dollars, impressively achieving extreme success in less than a year. It has changed the norms around social media and sparked many conversations about the next generation. BeReal could possibly be the replacement for other once-idolized social media feeds.