BeReal is giving Instagram and TikTok a run for their money – but will it last?

You've got a lot of word of mouth and people promoting it. So I think part of that is inherent to when a social app is trending. But more specifically as to why it's trending. I think there is this big need for authenticity. 

I think Gen Z in particular really craves that. The core aspect and value of BeReal is its authenticity. It serves as a contrast to social media as a whole, where it's not about maximizing time spent or allowing the user to be really curious about the content. But you know, the time you're allotted before there are those sharing you're allowed to do is pretty minimal and in your post to be authentic. I think it's seen as a refreshing take on a gap in the market, in the social landscape.

There are some safety issues and concerns around privacy, but I don't know how real they are because people are already sharing almost everything on social channels anyway.

What kinda makes it great is also its disadvantage. You're forced to create content, and I would say that the disadvantage is you can't really control the content you're creating and sharing. You’re also limited in how much content you can share. 

Because you get a notification and have to post right away what you're doing, and where you are, the content is not always going to be you putting your best foot forward or creating what you want to create and share. That authenticity is also a limiting factor for people that really want to invest more time into the app.

It's not a new app, but it's continued to gain in popularity. If you look at Instagram, it's really about curated content. It's really aspirational. It was an app started by millennials and represents our millennial values. And if you look at Tik Tok, it really sort of focuses on Gen Z. 

TikTok, and the format of video content format, forces you to not really post aspirational content or go through 100 pictures that you took and pick the best one. It's not an overly produced video like you could do on YouTube, right? Or an edited video. It really forces you to share what's real in the moment. A lot of the content is people talking from like the living room or their bedroom or just out and about on the street. So it's just a lot rawer in real life. 

It's hard to tell because there are a lot of things that can happen from here. But my inclination is that it’s more likely to be a fad. It's got limited features, because you can only post that once a day. So I think that there's a risk of the content sort getting stale. Right now there's a big novelty factor that's driving it. But the question is, can that be sustained? I don't know. And then what's keeping the other platforms from having their clone of the BeReal take off.

I think they found a format that's really interesting, this sort of front of camera and back of the camera. But I think there's clearly something there that people like about it. With the limited time pressure factor, that’s something that like BeReal uncovered as an opportunity. I think the question is, are they going to be the ones to really take advantage of that opportunity and see it all the way through? Or is that something where the rest of the social media landscape is going to stop that sort of lesson and incorporate it more and more into what they do?