“Time to BeReal. 2 min left to capture a BeReal and see what your friends are up to!”

The beloved notification I receive daily. One might even say this notification is the only constant in my life. What was once an app to share embarrasing moments and one too many nights alone watching sitcoms has become an app growing more fake by the day.

The social media app gained popularity on campus and around the world in early 2022. The basic premise is this: At a randomly selected time each day, BeReal releases a notification allotting their users a two minute window to capture whatever they may be doing at that moment.

When capturing your post, the app simultaneously takes a photo from both your front and back camera to share your authentic, unedited photo with your friends.

I first downloaded BeReal in July 2022 and, though I was hesitant at first, I don’t regret a thing. I’ve had many good memories captured by my BeReal notification. Lianna Enright ’24 shares her opinion on BeReal: “I enjoy doing the BeReal because I like taking pictures with my friends and having a place to look back on them.”

However, in the past few months, people have progressively stopped posting on time. Instead of posting within the two minute window, people are waiting to share their BeReals until the time that they’re doing something noteworthy. Many Royals seem to be annoyed by this, like Nicole Pineda ’23 “I think that posting late defeats the purpose of the app. It’s really silly. BeReal? More like BeFake.”

Some Royals are distancing themselves from the app altogether: Maya Davis ’23 shared, “I deleted BeReal because it got boring. At a certain point it felt like a chore. Honestly, I realized people’s lives aren’t that interesting.”

Here, I have to respectfully disagree. Personally, my favorite part of the app is viewing all my friends’ BeReals that I don’t talk to often. With the app, I receive daily updates from my friends that live in Tennessee, Ohio, Denver, New York, D.C., and the list continues. I love feeling like I’m still a part of their lives even when we don’t have the time to call often. Even if they post late, I still enjoy viewing their posts.

Though it is sad to see the app move away from its true authenticity, I still love it. Though I may not always post in the ‘time to BeReal,’ I enjoy capturing one moment from each day. Even having the app for less than a year, I get nostalgic looking back on some of my BeReals from the summer. Overall, I’d suggest that everyone try out the app. Even if you’re only going to post ‘lates,’ it’s a fun way to document your day!