BeReal or BeFake

When most students get their BeReal notification and start their two-minute timer, the fear that their BeReal will be “late” sets in, hoping to get their post done before the timer ultimately hits zero.  

In the past year, BeReal, a new social media app, took over the Emery student body. However, does BeReal deserve the hype it has been getting this past year? 

BeReal came out last winter. The app focuses on being your real self and not faking what you are doing on the internet. The app gives users a notification that “Time to BeReal” at a random time, every day. The notification then prompts users to take spontaneous photos of what they are doing at that exact moment before posting them and allowing others to see what they are doing. Unlike other social media apps such as Snapchat and Instagram, BeReal takes a picture from both the front-facing camera as well as the rear-facing, to fully capture what the user is doing at the time.

Many Emery students love the uniqueness and creativity of the app, and how it pressures them to be their true selves, which is not found in other social media apps.

Vera Fotopoulos, junior and avid user of the app, praises the app, stating that the app gives her a “fun way to see what [her] friends are doing at a random moment during the day.” Furthermore, she praised the originality of the app stating that the app is, “unique to where you take a picture with the front camera and the back camera at the same time.” Lastly, Fotopoulos believes that everyone should download the app because it “encourages users to just be their authentic selves without the use of filters and editing.”

Many students are torn about whether BeReal is deserving of its following. In addition, many question if the app upholds its message of “being real.”

Orie Israel, junior and avid hater of the app, questions the necessity of an app like BeReal. She shares that just because there is a two-minute timer, it does not mean people are truly being authentic, “most people are not even authentic like they will do anything in those two minutes to look good, and or even fake what they are doing in that moment to take the perfect photo.” Israel continues by critiquing the app, stating that  “If you do not post a photo in the time frame you should not be able to post one later,” because that defeats the purpose of “being real.”

Ultimately, the rise of BeReal at Emery has caused many to question the legitimacy of the app, and if people are truly “being real.”