The social network was invented so that people had a way of keeping in touch with our friends and family, whom they cannot see on an everyday basis; to feel more connected to their loved ones. Soon, things started to change — not for the better — and instead of putting up photos and videos of what we were doing, we started doing it “for the 'Gram”, showing off our "best" selves to our friends and followers.

BeReal (pronounced Biril) is a French app that changes all of that. Every day at any random time, everyone on the app will be notified to post a photo. In two minutes. Which, in all honesty, is way scarier when you actually do it. The pressure is is very... Real.

BeReal is a “new and unique way to discover who your friends really are in their daily life”. As soon you sign up, it asks you to post a photo and would not let you see what others have shared unless you do. Started in 2020, the app has taken off in the US and is the top social networking application on Apple’s App Store. The sudden interest in the app could be because of Instagram’s shift to being more "Reels-first" and pushing content to users that they are not even interested in and putting all the posts from their friends in the back — the list is endless.

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With BeReal, it is what it is. And it is very boring. If Instagram is filled with photos and videos of beautiful people at exotic locations, engaging in all sorts of adventures, BeReal is your half-naked neighbour sitting in the living room eating Dal Roti, watching Netflix. The app does not give you time to freshen up and fix your appearance.

At any given point in the day, you could receive a notification on your phone, saying it’s ⚠️Time to BeReal⚠️ and you have to post within the two-minute window. The app takes two photos simultaneously — one from the back camera and one from the front — and if you post late, it notifies your friends. So, everyone will know if #WokeUpLikeThis really happened or if it’s just a hashtag.

The whole point of the app is to be authentic and sometimes being authentic means being mundane and boring. The app’s official description even says, “BeReal won’t make you famous. If you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram.” Regardless of how many million followers one has on Instagram, everyone is going to look not-their-best on BeReal. It is just a matter of whom you want to look not-your-best in front of.

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First Published:Aug 9, 2022 10:42 AM IST