BeReal has taken the internet by storm. With users getting two minutes to take a candid picture, everyone can see what all their friends are up to in their silly little lives. While it was released in 2020, it became extremely popular in 2022. It mainly appeals to the teenage demographic, but it is available for users of all ages. The app is fairly simple: once people have the app downloaded on their phone, it is only a matter of time before the live notification for all users pops up. In this time period, the user will take their BeReal, which is a picture of what they are doing at that exact moment. 

The camera on the app allows users to have a frame with two pictures: one picture that is facing themselves, like a selfie, and the other picture facing exactly what is in front of them. Friends can react with Realmojis, a photo of themselves recreating a specific emoji as a reaction to a posted BeReal.

“I like using BeReal because it really shows you people’s real lives, without any filters, so you could really see everything from another perspective,” Noam Sphigel, a junior at FHS and BeReal user, said.

Each BeReal has a set timer, and once you press the “Take your BeReal” button people have two minutes to capture a flick of their life. However, some people tend to ignore their BeReal notification and instead wait until they are doing something fun or more pleasing for their friends to see. 

“I do believe that people should post whenever the timer goes off since this is the idea behind the app,” Sphigel said.

There is a sort of controversy surrounding the idea of posting BeReal’s on time. Sphigel thinks BeReal should keep the random timer as it is.

“I think that making the timer longer could change the app’s idea since it wouldn’t show the real time the users were supposed to capture the specific moment,” she said.

People, along with the addition of Realmojis, have the ability to comment under each user’s BeReal in an attempt to start conversations with other users and friends who are also interacting with the BeReal. 

Overall, people around the world seem to love this app, as it creates an environment where only them and their friends can connect, while not being pressured to create specific media content.