Social media users have a reputation of posting pictures that look doctored. Such shots may entail throwing a filter on a picture or using Facetune to better your selfie.
However, recently an app called BeReal has taken up an audience, especially among high schoolers. Don’t be fooled, though, as the name “BeReal” does not necessarily apply. The app is supposed to encourage people to post a picture of themselves at a random time of the day, no matter what they are doing. It gives you two minutes to post this picture with your front and back camera, but if you don’t, your friends on the app will be notified that you have essentially failed at the simple task the platform has given you.
Along with the embarrassment of being “late,” the app has gone on to make it public information how many times you retake your selfie. In other words, if you do not like how you look in your BeReal, DO NOT redo it because BeReal knows all. Even though people will know if you are late or if you redid your picture, people still do both. The name is literally “be real,” but you’ve never seen a faker group.
Sometimes people are out doing something fun with friends and have conveniently “forgotten” to take their BeReal earlier in the day. You can’t help but think that they were saving it for that exact moment. People have always said that social media is superficial, but BeReal has only made this more apparent. Allow me to let you in on the true scale of BeReal posts, from fakest to most real, and how they most definitely do not achieve the goal of this app.
BeFakest.
This type of BeReal user is the person whose post has the “11 hours late” notification most days or does not even post at all, which is the fakest you can get. When they do decide to post, the main character in their picture will be their ceiling. This person will majority of the time not show their face, except maybe the top right quadrant of their forehead. If this is you, delete the app altogether. Please.
BeFake.
This BeReal user is not the “fakest” but comes close. Some people on the app are often frustrated with the timing of the “2 minutes left to capture a BeReal” notification, as it will sometimes show up late at night, early in the morning, or during the work/school day when they are busy. Busy or not, though, some users find a way to post. But not this person. They will wait until the best part of their day is happening to take their BeReal, whether by waiting until they are with friends, at a sporting event or concert, or out to dinner. While the effort is there, the execution is absolutely horrendous.
BeReal(ish…).
This person is probably one of the most common. On many people's feeds, a chunk of the posts will constitute people having someone else take their BeReal’s for them. The person who was taking the picture is often uninformed that it is going to feature them when it takes the front camera's picture. This leads to little kids and adults who are not on the app taking pictures of themselves at extremely unflattering angles. These users are often also conscious of what their BeReal’s have looked like the past few days. If they have been posting consistently in bed, they may get out of bed when the notification goes off, just so they don’t seem like they do nothing all day every day. While timely, this type of user manages does little to spark interest and a lot to inspire embarrassment.
BeReal.
Last but certainly not least is the model for how all BeReal users should be. This person is the definition of “real” because they take part in every aspect of the app. They post on time every day with a picture of themselves and what they are doing, flattering or not. They will also react to and comment on their friend's posts. No more has to be said about this BeReal user because they are the ones using the app correctly (although we all wonder why they have so much time on their hands).
While being the “BeFakest” is less than ideal and being the “BeReal” is a little out of reach for some, the bar is set high in Edgemont with some of the best BeReal’s displayed below…