Time To BeReal

It is no surprise to most of us that a new social media platform is taking the world by storm. As many of you know, it is an app called ‘BeReal’ developed by Alexis Barryat. The objective of the app is to be raw and, well, real about what you are doing. A notification will come up on your phone that reads, “2 minutes left to capture a BeReal and see what your friends are up to!” You are supposed to enter the app and take a double-sided photo before the 2-minute timer is up. The notification can come at any time of day and is unpredictable through and through. This app was made to break down the wall of being fake on social media. What are you doing right now? How do you really look? But, one of the real questions resides, does it successfully accomplish this goal? I interviewed many different Lodi High School students, and here is what they had to say;

“BeReal is lit, but yeah, it can still be pretty fake. People can set it up to make it look like their lives are more interesting.” – anonymous senior

“I think it brings people together. I love that people take theirs at the same time and announce it. I know some people who are very staged when it comes to taking BeReals, but I also know others who are constantly real.” – anonymous senior

“I think it depends on the person. You can tell when people are being fake about it.” – anonymous sophomore

At times, people will take multiple “retakes” to make what they are doing seem more “fun.” Yes, sometimes we can not be real because we are busy or doing something otherwise. The majority of the students I interviewed agreed that sometimes people can not fulfill the app’s expectations. It can not always work out the way we all intend, but in the end, we should try and do one thing when we can… be you and be real.