The case in summary BeReal has lost two thirds of its users, from 74 million to 25 million in one year. People found ways around the app’s “be real” approach, which created bad content and led to user churn. Instagram and Snapchat have stolen BeReal’s dual camera trick. it has made it harder for BeReal to stand out. Users move to other apps that provide more varied content and flexible communication. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. The social media app that stole the hearts of many for its ‘keep it real’ approach is now struggling after it took off in the app market last summer. BeReal challenged Instagram’s exaggerated glamour, where everyone appears at their best. It quickly became the new cool thing for young people after TikTok. At its peak, it had around 74 million active users. But in November this year, there were only 25 million active users, according to Apptopia. Two out of three users have disappeared. How could BeReal go so wrong? This is “BeReal” Illustration: Egil Ursin / news BeReal is a social media app that focuses on being “real”. Once a day, a BeReal alert pops up at a random time. Users have just two minutes to snap an unfiltered double selfie that shows both the face and what we are looking at. Wherever we are, whatever we do. Fake it on BeReal Zakariya Fakhruddin Mohammed (18) changed schools this year. Once in a while he checks BeReal to see what old friends are up to. Before he can see your photos, he has to post something himself. Sometimes he just shares a black screen to access his buddies’ posts. – It is fair that you have to post yourself first, but I have to admit that it is possible to deceive BeReal, he says. How Zakariya uses BeReal: When the BeReal alert popped up, … … Zakariya Fakhruddin Mohammed was watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. SoMe expert Astrid Valen-Utvik believes BeReal is struggling with its purpose: To keep people real. Users discovered that they could quickly turn the camera to take pictures of random things, like the ceiling, instead of themselves. Some choose to wait several hours to share something cool. – These habits result in bad content on BeReal, and this causes people to leave the app, says Valen-Utvik. Social media decline BeReal isn’t the only social media app experiencing decline. A new trend report from Opinion shows that both Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook are on the decline among young people between the ages of 15 and 25. Even TikTok, which has been on a massive growth spurt, is starting to flatten out. When Instagram and Snapchat copied BeReal’s dual-camera feature, things got even tougher for the app. – BeReal lost what was unique about its app, says the SoMe expert. We saw the same pattern with Clubhouse. When it took off during the pandemic, X and LinkedIn jumped on the soundroom trend. – Either these new apps die or they become a real niche, says Valen-Utvik. Clubhouse quickly became old news when X (Twitter) and LinkedIn jumped on the audio-chat wave. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein From BeReal to ByeReal Zakariya’s classmates Emma Lenander and Lotta Strand were excited about BeReal when they were exchange students on opposite sides of the globe. Emma in Australia and Lotta in the USA. Now they have both logged off for good. Emma was actually banned in April this year, she says. She was falsely accused of nudity after she posted a bikini photo on the Gold Coast beach. – It was an innocent picture. But when I got “stuck”, I couldn’t bear to start again. My friends had started dabbing anyway. Lotta (left) and Emma initially thought BeReal was new and cool, but quickly got bored. Photo: Robert Rønning Lotta moved contact with her American friends over to Snapchat. – There I chat and send lots of pictures. BeReal is too limited. One picture and then I’m done for the day in 20 seconds, she says. Zakariya has switched back to Instagram where he can combine communication with wider content. – I want a mix of family and friends, DMs, stories, news about war, football scores, my favorite celebrities and people I look up to. I want everything in one app! Swipe right: – BeReal must do something exceptional and come up with something completely new, so that people from the big apps move over, thinks Zakariya. – I haven’t missed BeReal, but I miss my memories that are stored in the app and that I lost the access to after I became “bean”, says Emma. – If my friends go back to BeReal, I think I will also become active again, says Lotta. – BeReal has shot itself in the foot by being such a limited platform, believes SoMe expert Astrid Valen-Utvik. Astrid Valen-Utvik She believes that BeReal has many inactive users now, and that it will take a lot to crowd out the big apps. – The industry’s eyes are currently on Threads, which stands a good chance of being a welcome alternative to X, says Valen-Utvik. How often do you visit BeReal? Often Occasionally Rarely Never Show result news has been in contact with BeReal to hear what they are doing to turn the situation around. They promised to respond but still haven’t. Hi!Did you like this issue? You might also like the cases of Exam Cheating on Facebook and Qatar World Cup on Snapchat. I love writing about internet culture. If you have any input or tips, feel free to throw them my way. I want to hear from you! Do you want more cultural content? Watch our videos: Is this Hollywood’s worst attempt at Norwegian? 01:48 Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie? 01:42 Top five pee scenes with Tom Hanks 01:41 Hanna (19) knocks out Kaizer Orchestra’s oil drum 01:17 Show more
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BeReal in free fall – experiencing a massive exodus of users among young people – news Culture and entertainment
