Check Out BeReal, The Social Media App That Is Taking On Instagram’s “Toxic Positivity”- Technology News, Firstpost

FP StaffApr 22, 2022 11:27:44 IST

Social media platforms like Instagram started out with great intentions. It aimed to provide people a sneak peek into a quasi-digital life that users would curate for themselves. Instead, it has become a mishmash of toxic positivity, and, well, all things fake. There is no semblance of authenticity in most social media platforms.

This is why several social media companies start out that focus on authenticity, that have no space for those heavily photoshopped images, or those dub smash videos which have filters upon filters being applied to them. One such platform is BeReal, which, in a couple of years since its inception, has grown consistently.

The way the app works is, that it asks users to post raw glimpses of their everyday lives during a constantly changing 2-minute window each day. Posts come in the form of photos, which include snapshots taken simultaneously from a phone’s front-facing and back-facing cameras.

Also, unless you post, you will not be able to see what your friends have posted, which in a way coerces you to participate. Founded by a former GoPro employee, Alexis Barreyat, what this does is force people into posting and seeing what real life actually looks like on social media.

Although the app does not offer a lot in terms of new technology, the app stands out due to its functionality. Where other social media platforms force people to curate the best of their lives, which in turn means that the feed that people see, is not just one post after the other that shows people living their perfect lives. This goes a long way to dispel the phenomenon that has come to be known as toxic positivity.

“You can see a whole other side to people that aren’t just their presentable side to social media,” said Alexis Barreyat. “It gets really tiring and exhausting for people constantly like scrolling through Instagram and seeing people having these perfect lives,” he added.

And if their numbers are anything to go by, people, especially Gen-Z surely do appreciate what the social media platform is going for. Since January of this year, daily downloads of the app have grown by 315 per cent. Since April 1st, the app has been one of the top 10 most downloaded free social networking apps for iPhones nearly every day.