Just when people thought there couldn’t be another major social media platform, 15 million users have signed up to put their lives on display again with BeReal. 

BeReal, the newest trend amongst high school students, allows users to show their friends their true, authentic selves. In order to “BeReal,” users receive a daily notification that they have two minutes to take a photo of what they are doing at that given time. Users never know what time of day they will receive the notification. If a photo is posted after the two minutes are up, the photo is considered “late.”

This app, unlike other social media platforms, provides a unique perspective to users as it takes an individual picture with both sides of the camera. Olympic Heights sophomore Grace Deeb comments, “BeReal is different from other apps because it gives me a particular time every day to go on and see what my friends are doing,” creating deeper friendships, as less time is spent on the app. 

In a classroom setting, BeReal provides students with additional opportunities to socialize amongst their peers. OH sophomore Isabella Levine comments, “BeReal has allowed me and my peers to speak to one another, even if we haven’t before. I believe it’s a great conversation starter.” By simply taking one picture each day, this app allows students to collaborate while also staying connected.

Not only does this app positively affect students, but it has allowed teachers to benefit as well. When in school for about seven hours a day, students often fall off track and are in need of something to regain their attention. 

“If students have it already set up to be taken before the class period, then the distraction is minimal, but the positive experience in the classroom is huge,” OH math teacher Mr. James Cullen adds. “I will gladly lose two minutes of teaching time to enhance the other one-and-a-half hours.” 

BeReal, like any social media platform, has features that may be controversial in terms of safety. Some see the location feature of this app to be a nice add-on, but others fear that this may be putting their safety at risk. With each post providing the exact location at which it is taken, “there are times I am worried that something may happen due to my location being visible,” OH sophomore Alexa Haring shares. 

From a personal standpoint, BeReal may cause feelings of exclusion, as it pinpoints exactly who you are with at that given moment. Levine adds, “Just like other forms of social media, this app can cause issues regarding being left out, as well as the idea of seeing what all your friends are doing at the same time.”

As the point of BeReal is to capture what you are doing at any given time, this sometimes means that students are with their teachers when they are alerted that it is “Time to be Real.” This allows teachers to get in on the fun too. “I would never say no to any student that asked me to take a photo of them,” Cullen explains.

Unlike other platforms where posts are typically staged, BeReal provides a unique opportunity for users to see what is really happening at any given moment. As the number of student users continues to rise, it will be interesting to see how this new platform influences other social media sites in the future.