Okay, yes. I know the entire point of the app BeReal is to post what you’re doing at the moment without the facade of social media. But evading that core purpose is not why I don’t always post on time. When the app 1SE (or One Second A Day) came out, I was consistently filling it with one-second clips of my day, and even though I don’t do it anymore, I love looking back on those moments and seeing what I was doing and how the days progressed. I did it throughout quarantine, and I think it was so important for me to document such a life-changing time however I could.
Similarly, the memories feature on BeReal allows me to look back at my days and collect these moments that would normally just pass me by. There’s something so great about being able to see yourself experience the moments you post. Apps like Instagram and Snapchat only show one side of the picture, but BeReal letting you show yourself and what your looking at makes the memory seep in a bit more.
Yes, this could be done at the specific moment the notification goes off, but I honestly don’t see the harm in waiting until I meet someone at the dining hall or am grabbing myself some coffee to post. It may be very real to show me at my laptop working a lot, but that’s not really what I want to look back on when I think of my day.
Normally, at the end of the day, I just end up reflecting on people I met or what we talked about (while also thinking about everything else I have to get done), but the point is, those are the moments I want to and choose to remember.
And honestly, I don’t think this mindset is that “fake” as long as I’m doing it for myself. There are of course times during finals or something when all my BeReals are me at my desk or staring at my math homework, but they almost capture the theme or essence of that day.
Overall, there are so many ways you can use an app like BeReal, but the most important thing is staying true to yourself and not comparing whatever you’re doing to others. Just react to a couple of friends and leave some funny comments, and you’ve already been one of the best app users on there.
And always remember to take a look at the memories feature from time to time, you never know what you may have forgotten!