Your phone buzzes- ⚠️Time to BeReal ⚠️The question is: Is your BeReal actually real?

As school begins, more and more people have downloaded BeReal as it becomes an increasingly popular app amongst Gen Z. According to BuzzFeed News, BeReal is the second most downloaded app: in July the app saw an eighty six percent growth in downloads, totaling to 7.8 million downloads of the app.

With the app, a notification comes at any random point of the day, exclaiming ⚠️ Time to BeReal. ⚠️When the notification arrives, a user has two minutes to take their BeReal before their post is deemed “late.” Although you can post a late BeReal, it notifies all of your friends on the app that you posted a “late BeReal.” The app has a two way camera, meaning it takes a photo with the back and front camera. After you post your BeReal, your friends can “react” to the photos with either a text comment or a “realmoji,” a selfie of your friend in the shape of an emoji. 

In a statement to Verge, the company states, “We want to make people feel good about themselves and their lives. We want an alternative to addictive social networks fueling social comparison and portraying life with the goal of amassing influence.” But does BeReal actually make users feel this way? According to Yulie Kim 25’, BeReal “increases FOMO [fear of missing out] because you can post more casually, whereas on other apps you might not have an excuse to post a photo of you and your friend if it's not an amazing photo.” Yulie expresses that on BeReal, there are more chances of feeling excluded because people are more inclined to post pictures of their friends. Another student also argues that she feels more FOMO from the app, justifying this by claiming, “if I’m at home studying for a test and I see my friends hanging out or at a party together, I would feel a bit of FOMO.”

BeReal has been labeled as the “anti-Instagram.” BeReal’s absence of the ability to filter photos, pre-plan posts, and retake more than once a day gives it a certain level of authenticity above Instagram, that might be more attractive to some users. For instance, Yulie compares it to the other social media platforms she uses, explaining, “I like that [the notification comes at] random times in the day so it's a surprise every time, also that it's not like any other social media I have.” Furthermore, she explains that Instagram “has a sort of ‘fake’ aspect of it and people only upload the best photos of themselves looking like they’re having fun (speaking from first hand experience) versus BeReal is used to show what you’re doing in that moment and comparing it with your friends.” 

However, another student justifies her preference of Instagram as opposed to BeReal. She argues that, “I like instagram more because I like that the posts are permanent and BeReal gives me more fomo than Instagram.” Some could argue that it depends on the individual, and what gives them more FOMO, while others might just use BeReal skyrocketing popularity as a justification that it tops Instagram. Despite these opinions, one thing stays similar about both platforms: the question of authenticity. 

Some argue that BeReal is the most authentic of the social media platforms. Its two minute window, no use of filters and no editing give it an advantage to Instagram. However, the app still allows one to post after the two minute window passes, defeating the opportunity for any authenticity. Yulie says that “it is authentic in a sense but most people just ‘save’ their BeReals and take it at a time where they are doing something interesting or fun. If the creators put a feature where you have the two minute window to take as well as the fact that you can only take it in a thirty minute window before it closes off it could promote the authentic aspect of it even more.”

But can we ever really be authentic on social media? Most answer no – everything is planned out and fake. However, Yulie has an interesting approach. Yulie says “I feel like it’s your mindset and not about social media. For Instagram, Snapchat, and BeReal, if you have the mindset that you want to be authentic and show people your everyday life then obviously social media will be more authentic to you than someone who only posts once in a blue moon when everything in their life is great.” 

The question of authenticity follows most social media apps, but it seems to target BeReal as the app’s popularity skyrockets. Is BeReal the step closer to creating a more authentic social media presence, or a step backward? Only time will tell.