BeReal

Submission 20,732

About

BeReal refers to a photo-sharing social media application that sends one, daily notification to all its users prompting them to take a photo and a selfie, taken simultaneously, within two minutes to be shared to all their friends. It's drawn comparisons to apps like Instagram and Snapchat, however, the app's premise is aimed to counter these competitor platforms. The app aims to show users' real lives by alerting them at any given moment to share their current state, no matter how mundane or ugly. It was released in late 2019 by French developers and grew a large Gen Z following in early 2022. BeReal memes emerged that referenced the BeReal notification "⚠️Time to BeReal⚠️."

History

BeReal was first released to the Apple and Android app stores in December 2019.^[1] It was created and developed by French developer Alexis Barreyat, a former employee at GoPro. ^[2] The app is said to be borrowing its concept from a precursor, a 2017 app called Minutiae.^[6] On February 12th, 2020, the app posted its first promotional video to YouTube, ^[2] earning roughly 34,000 views in two years (shown below).

The app didn't receive a large user base, however, until early 2022. From January to April 2022, its user base grew by 315 percent.^[1] This was largely due to an interest in the app taken by members of Gen Z who spread word about the platform on college campuses in the U.S. (graphic shown below provided by Apptopia). Most of its users are from France, making up 27.2 percent of its lifetime installs.^[1] Additionally, the app has drawn comparisons to David Dobrik's app Dispo, however, BeReal has received a notable user base, unlike Dispo, in early 2022.

BeReal was covered by multiple news outlets in April 2022. One of the first was Mashable,^[3] who wrote an article on April 6th that revealed in its first quarter of 2022, BeReal had been downloaded over 3.2 million times. Business Insider^[4] and NPR^[5] followed with similar articles, both published on April 16th.

On April 27th, 2022, The Today Show covered the app on their morning show, reposting the clip to YouTube on the same day where it earned over 1,400 views in two weeks (shown below). Within the video, they interviewed multiple Zoomers, trying to get a gauge on what they enjoyed about the app compared to its competitors.

Before its early 2022 surge, in late 2021, the app raised $30 million in a Series A.^[6] Additionally, students at Brown University^[7] reported that the company paid them $30 per referral and $50 for an app download with a review.

Meta 'Murder Clone'

On August 22nd, 2022, it was reported by leaker Alessandro Paluzzi that Meta was working on a new feature for Instagram called "IG Candid." The feature recreates the functionality of BeReal exactly, and is accused of being a 'murder clone,' intended to copy and outcompete the new app.^[19]

Reception

Students at Brown University^[7] in February 2022 were the first to write an extensive article about how the app was being received in a college campus setting by a Gen Z audience. One student named James Dahlen stated the app was “an oddly reassuring thing to see,” because most of the time, his friends weren't doing anything special.^[7] Of course, this harks back to the app's premise. Another student stated that she found the front-facing camera photo caught her “off-guard," further going on to state that there’s “no one [she’s] trying to show off to [on there]."

By late April 2022, BeReal had a 4.8 rating across nearly 22,000 user reviews on the App Store and a 4.5 rating across nearly 15,000 reviews on Google Play.^[6] At the time, it was also the No. 4 Overall app in the U.S. App Store.^[6]

By late August 2022, BeReal was number one in the social networking category on the App Store, with a 4.8 rating across almost 192,000 user reviews.^[20]

Memes and humorous tweets about BeReal started to surface on other platforms in early 2022. For instance, on April 13th, Twitter^[8] user kateodonnell_ was the first user to post a tweet about BeReal that earned mass engagement, receiving roughly 2,200 likes in one month (shown below).

On April 22nd, 2022, Twitter^[9] user jackbenedwards posted a tweet about waiting for the BeReal notification, earning roughly 3,400 likes in one month (shown below, left). On May 9th, 2022, Twitter^[10] user juvarawskin posted one of her mother's BeReals, showing her dog pooping in the background. Over the course of nine days, the tweet received roughly 10,600 likes (shown below, right).

BeReal Memes

Starting en masse in mid-2022, Twitter users tweeted fake BeReals that they imagined would be posted by celebrities, memes and other pop culture icons. Many of the tweets referenced the BeReal notification "⚠️Time to BeReal⚠️."

Besides the aforementioned examples, on April 7th, 2022, Twitter^[11] user messiiboii posted a BeReal notification meme that received roughly 7,900 likes in three months (shown below, left). On July 14th, 2022, Twitter^[12] user WellbutrinXR used the George Bush Learning About 9/11 in reference to receiving the BeReal notification, earning roughly 54,700 likes in five days (shown below, right).

Inspired by WellbutrinXR's tweet, meme creators on Twitter started posting fake BeReals. For instance, on July 16th, 2022, Twitter^[13] user har__V tweeted Drake's BeReal, receiving roughly 33,000 likes in four days (shown below, left). On July 18th, 2022, Twitter^[14] user princefabrizio tweeted Hunter Biden's BeReal using images of crack cocaine from the Hunter Biden iPhone Hack, receiving roughly 14,600 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Warning: Graphic Content

BeReal With A Stranger Or NPC

Similar to the Can You Record A Video For Me? trend, TikTokers started uploading videos that were screen-recordings of strangers taking their BeReal photo for them.

On July 18th, 2022, TikToker^[15] johnluther00 started this trend with a video that received roughly 54,800 plays and 8,400 likes in one month (since-deleted). On July 22nd, 2022, TikToker^[16] johnluther00 uploaded another video that referenced the Real Life NPC concept. This second TikTok earned roughly 4.6 million plays and 829,300 likes over the course of three weeks (shown below).

Inspired by johnluther00's second video, many TikTokers and BeReal users exploited the trend continuing into August 2022. For instance, on July 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[17] jackkemp008 posted an iteration that received roughly 1.2 million plays and 206,300 likes in three weeks (shown below, left). On July 28th, 2022, TikToker^[18] sbjayyy posted an iteration that used the 3D Photo effect from CapCut on the stranger's selfie. The video received roughly 5.9 million plays and 1.6 million likes in two weeks (shown below, right).