It’s time to be real! BeReal was founded in 2020 by a French entrepreneur, Alex Barreyat. Barreyat designed the app in response to the effect of different social media platforms. Social media was starting to evolve into an unhealthy avenue, and everyone needed a change. Barreyat used this as an opportunity to develop a new app, BeReal. But is BeReal turning into every other social media platform?

Throughout the years, social media has been an outlet for millennials and Gen Z to share information, family updates, and much more. It’s a form of communication and a way to express creativity. There are no guidelines for social media, but why does everyone feel like there are some unspoken rules to follow? For instance, I constantly feel like I need to let everyone know what I’m doing or where I am at. If no one comments on my post, I’m not popular enough. And I always compare the number of likes to the person next to me. From these habits, I developed social media anxiety. Most teens struggle with the same condition or FOMO, fear of missing out. The feeling leads down a dark, unhealthy hole of depression, which is more common today, thanks to social media.

While creating BeReal, Barreyat had the intention of presenting an app that has unfiltered candid photos. Every day at different times, the BeReal notification goes off, and the user of the app takes a picture of themselves and what is around them. A big positive is that no one can lurk throughout the app until taking a BeReal. So there is no constant fear of someone stalking your page, along with the option of being private.

Gen Zs have a habit of going outside of the box, and BeReal is another place to excel. How is this app different from other media platforms, though? Teens believe that there is a certain bar that we need to reach. For example, we facetune our posts until they don’t look like us, but instead a filtered version. As a result, anxiety gets the best of us, and we start to feel down about who we are because we are constantly comparing ourselves to fake people. This cycle has created unhealthy thought patterns such as, “I need to look my best even when I don’t feel like it,” and if we are not looking our best, we don’t post at all. Now people are retaking their BeReals and saying, “Pose for my BeReal.” Others are wishing the BeReal notification will go off when they are doing something they want other people to see. Some are not posting because they aren’t doing anything eventful because you can’t let others know you are at your house doing nothing. Another example of some unspoken rule of society. Another example of how teens can become easily insecure and never show who they truly are on social media.

Maybe this problem of social anxiety isn’t a problem for most. Maybe it’s just a normal thing now. Maybe people just don’t care, or relate to the problem. As big or little as you want the problem to be, we can all make a change. Every day we can appreciate the real things in our lives and express it everywhere. Always show positivity to others as they express themselves. And always be real.