Everything Parents Should Know About BeReal, the App That’s Supposed To Be ‘More Authentic’ Than IG or TikTok
Is it actually safe?
Just what every parent wants to hear is that there is yet another social media app that their teens are being drawn to. Many parents are already concerned about what their kids see on their feeds on a daily basis. Besides being a huge distraction, teens are also exposed to bullying, peer pressure and very unrealistic views of their peers' lives. All of these things can lead to an increase in depression and anxiety. When a person is seeing what they think is the ideal life in the majority of their friends, their own life will pale in comparison. So what is BeReal, exactly?
Just the name of the app, BeReal, gives the impression that it will give a more authentic look into another person's life. At this point, many parents and teens have grown tired of the enhanced fairy tale version of a life that some of their peers want to put on display. Instead of either being focused on enjoying life or being transparent with friends and family about what they might be struggling with, many are more focused on what they want their followers to see. But always putting on a happy face and covering up real-life issues can be exhausting. This is exactly why Apple created the BeReal app. It is supposed to be much more transparent and authentic.
We'll explain exactly what the BeReal app is, how it works and what parents need to watch out for.
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What Is BeReal?
BeReal is a French social media app that was created in 2020. It has been gaining popularity in the U.S. and is now more popular here than in France. In fact, it has had over 20 million downloads—making it the top new app by Apple.
It is a simple photo-sharing app to be used among friends. Photos are shared at a different set time every day. Since no one knows in advance when the picture needs to be taken and shared, there can't be any planning or enhancing for the best impression. This is meant to create a more authentic look into each individual's life. The app is limited to just one photo shared per day which eliminates the endless scrolling you have with other apps—and it does not offer video content as an option.
How Does the BeReal App Work?
Once the app is downloaded, a person simply needs to create an account by supplying their name, phone number and age. If you log out of your account, you'll only need to provide your phone number again to get back in. You will then get a verification code to enter, so there is no password to remember.
Each account is set to private as a default. This means that only a person's accepted friends can view any of their shared photos. However, you have the ability to change the setting to public if you want to.
The way that the app works is that a notification saying "time to BeReal" will be sent out to everyone, regardless of location in the country, all at the same random time each day. Users then have two minutes to take a photo of whatever they happen to be doing at the time to be shared on the app. The app uses both the front and back cameras on the phone. This means that the main photo will be whatever the person focuses on in front of them, and will also include a selfie of the person taking the picture in the corner of the photo. The photos are taken within seconds of each other.
Everyone, no matter where they are around the country, will be posting at the same time. As a photo is posted, you can choose to post only to friends or publicly to the "discovery feed."
Once that is done, everyone can comment or leave RealEmojis on each photo shared. The photos then disappear from the app after 24 hours and a new notification will be sent out the following day at another random time.
Obviously, there could be times when it wouldn't be appropriate to send a photo in that two-minute window. In that case, one option is that you can simply skip that day for sharing a photo (you just won't be able to view any other person's photo either). The other option is to take a photo later on that same day and post it within two minutes of taking it. There will be an added note on your photo noting how late you were, but at least you can still view other photos.
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What Is a RealEmoji?
Posting a reaction to a photo with an emoji is a little different with the BeReal app. The BeReal app allows you to react with an emoji that you make from a selfie instead of a premade one. All you have to do is click on the reaction button in the bottom-right corner to open a strip of what looks like regular emoji. Click on one of them to open the selfie camera and take a photo of yourself with the same expression as the emoji chosen.
This self-emoji then becomes a saved emoji to use quickly as a reaction to future photos.
Who Can View a Person's BeReal?
Any of your friends can view your BeReal photo as long as they have submitted one as well. Adding friends is the same as any other social media platform—you can discover friends by searching usernames or simply adding contacts from your phone. When you first create a BeReal account, the app will ask for permission to access the contacts on your phone and will give you a list of who already has a BeReal account that you can connect with, which makes it easier to find your friends.
There is also an option to share your photos publicly. In that case, the photos will be shown to anyone in the country who has also shared a photo for that day's time window.
Can You Delete a BeReal Post?
Once your photo is posted, you may decide that you don't want it shared for some reason. Luckily, you can delete a post once shared. However, if you share a second photo, the second one cannot be deleted.
To delete a photo, tap the three dots in the top right of your post, then tap Options and select “Delete My BeReal.” A pop-up will appear asking you to select the reason why you’re deleting your post and if you are sure you want to delete it. Click on "yes I'm sure" and the post will be deleted.
You then have the opportunity to share a second photo if you are within the 24-hour window.
Is There a Way To View Photos After 24 Hours?
Although a photo gets erased from the app in 24 hours, there are other possible ways to view it later. From your own profile, you can view your past photos as your memories. Then, from memories, the photos can be saved to your media library or shared publicly.
There is also the possibility that someone will screenshot your photo and save it to their own photo library. In that case, someone could take your photo and post it online through other apps without your permission.
Is the BeReal App Safe?
Right off the bat, the ability to share photos publicly is a concern. If a photo is shared publicly, it also means that the person who shared it can view any other publicly shared photos. You have no control over what will be shared in general and it carries risks associated with strangers or possible predators.
So, if your teen is scrolling through the discovery feed, they could be exposed to something inappropriate. Even if your teen intends to only share photos privately, it might be tempting for your child to start posting their own photos publicly so that they can scroll the discovery feed.
Also, a photo that a teen meant to have seen just by their friends could be saved by anyone that wants to take a screenshot of it. If the photo is shared privately, this is not as much of a concern. However, if a teen accepts anyone as a friend who they don't know well, it becomes riskier.
Along with photo viewing concerns is the fact that, by default, a person's location is shown. You have the ability to turn off location sharing just before posting each photo. However, with the time limit for posting, a teen could easily forget to do this.
What Should Parents Be Aware of and Watch Out For?
There are no parental controls.
Photos are unmoderated (although a user can report inappropriate content by flagging it).
Who your child is adding as a friend—they may accept friends that they don't really know.
Could cause anxiety—in a rush to take a photo, something could be shared that later, they don't want to be posted.
Can still scroll the discover feed. Scrolling through a private feed could go rather quickly, which could lead to wanting to see more, possibly resulting in changing their settings to "public" so they can also scroll the discovery feed.
Locations are shared. Unless a teen turns this option off each time, their location will be shown.
Bottom Line
Although the BeReal app is intended to be more authentic and to involve less time scrolling, there are still some valid concerns. Because a person can actually share their photo after the two-minute window, some staging can still occur.
It can also be addicting to scroll through both the private feed and the public feed. With all of the people using the app, this could result in a large amount of time scrolling. Although intentions are good, this app has the same potential as other social media apps to be abused.
