As phones light up across the world, the news that it’s time to BeReal travels from person to person. We’ve got two minutes to stop everything, capture the moment, and post before it’s “late”.

   The new sensation BeReal has taken over millions of phones. Released in 2020, BeReal was developed by Alexis Barreyat and Kevin Perreau. BeReal sat in the app store for two years until it became popular in early to mid 2022.

   The app is based on time; at a random moment throughout the day, the notification will go off, which results in a two minute window to take and post a picture. When opening the app, users are first greeted with the back-facing camera. After the first picture is taken, the camera immediately flips to show what the other side of the phone sees. Both pictures are then formatted in which the first picture sits in the top left corner of the second picture. Just by clicking, users can switch the pictures to see each as the bigger one.

   BeReal has multiple features for each post such as the ability to comment, caption, and react to other posts. When reacting to another post, a smaller camera shows up on the bottom corner of the original picture. Each user is able to capture their true reaction to their friend’s post.

   “I really like reacting to my friend’s posts because it’s just like when I make a face in person,” senior Madison Corral said. “It’s a way to talk to your friends without actually talking.”

   The app is divided into two sections: Discovery and Friends. When on the Friend’s page, the only posts users see are their friends. The Discovery page consists of posts from people all around the world. Some users allow everyone to see their picture by posting it to the Discovery page.

   With the name BeReal, the goal is to show what is really happening to each person in that moment. Within a random two minutes, each person has to show what they look like and what they see in front of them.

   “I really like that you can connect with people and see what they are doing,” senior Wyatt Snyder said. “It really pushes you to go out and do something. That notification is a reminder to not just sit around and wait for life to pass by.”

      BeReal is one of the few social media apps that doesn’t allow editing. Each user has to post the picture as soon as they take it to avoid being late.

   “I like that it’s the only form of honest social media,” senior Andi Macdougall said. “It doesn’t give you the option to pose or anything unless you’re late. It kind of pressures you into being real.”