Are You Really Being Real?

The newest app of 2022 is BeReal, anew an aged concept of social media. Revolutionizing traditional social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, etc. Many of these apps often produce fake facades of what the user wants their followers to see. It shows the highlights of life and masks reality. Living in this bubble that everyone’s life is perfect can be damaging to users as they look up to influencers especially users of a younger age which leads them to strive for this fictional lifestyle. The app BeReal on the other hand saw all the flaws with traditional platforms and decided to evolve and move past the idea of preserving a perfect life. 

BeReal is an app that sends random notifications once a day all around the world, and a timer then begins counting down for two minutes. What happens is you take a photo of yourself and then the camera automatically flips thus it takes a picture of your surroundings. The picture is able to be retaken but the goal is only to take it once and “be real.” There is also no “like” button, and if you don’t take pictures then you are unable to see others’ posts.

Although, this new app has caused some issues with the start of school as the notifications have disrupted classes, and the whole point of “being real” has completely lost its meaning as children begin to pick and choose when they want to take the photo and do it when they are doing something exciting such as with their friends, like going to a concert. 

An 18-year-old Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) student and active user of BeReal Lilyann Robertson says “The app was fun in the beginning, but now it feels like there’s the pressure when posting like I always have to be doing something entertaining.” 

The true point of “BeReal” has become distorted to become staged like any other social media platform. Avid social media user, Caterina Becceril 17-year-old junior student from Downey High School said,“ BeReal was a refreshing take on social media but then more and more people started to feel the need to look their best constantly or even stopped using the app in general because it was just too much.” 

The dangers of social media are apparent, and as a society, we should fight for more authenticity and honesty to prevent the harmful consequences of social media from growing.