Photo, Social Media
Is BeRealSafe? A BeReal App Review for Parents
Overview
BeReal is a new photo-sharing app that’s all about authenticity. Here’s how it works: Once a day, users get a time-sensitive notification. You then have two minutes to take a photo of what you’re doing — it will automatically create a collage of an image taken from both your front and back camera. The time you get this alert changes every day, so it’s random when you’ll need to be photo-ready. Once the time’s up, you’ll be able to see what all of your friends are currently doing and react with emojis and comments. But is the BeReal app safe? We’ve got everything you need to know
Harmful Content 😲
Inappropriate content
Whenever you give people access to a camera and the ability to publish photos, the chances of inappropriate content appearing are near inevitable. The app states that it’s for ages 13 and above, but many adults use the platform, which means that photos could include sexual content, drugs/alcohol, violence, and more. Another feature to note is that users can only delete one of their old photos per day. This means that potentially problematic photos that were posted in a moment of poor judgment could be up for longer than is prudent.
Distraction
It’s completely random when users get the time-sensitive notification that it’s photo-sharing time. For some kids, this could result in dropping everything to search for something cool to post. It’s only two minutes, but this may interfere with school work, walking safely across the street, or even just paying attention to a conversation.
Predation 🚨
Users can access a public feed composed of users from all around the world, and it’s just a quick button tap to add them as a friend. Once the invite is accepted, users can then leave comments, which could quickly lead to a jump to a different platform where chatting is easier. Like with any app that connects strangers, the chance of predation on BeReal is high.
Positive Value 💙
The whole point of BeReal is to share what you’re actually doing — not a painstakingly curated photo of tacos or a group photo of friends smiling but who are actually all mad at each other.
The upside of this is that you only see real, everyday activities, and it can be a refreshing glimpse into the behind-the-scenes activities of your loved ones. The downside? It can be kind of boring sometimes. Blurry photos of cereal. Out-of-focus selfies in a dark room. A zoomed-in picture of a bug on the floor. When you only have two minutes, it’s not always a masterpiece of photography that’s created — and that’s the whole point. Think of BeReal like a complete reaction to — and rejection of — more stylized social media platforms.
Privacy 🔒
When you go to post your daily photo, it automatically defaults to geotagging your location. This means that other users could see potentially identifying clues to where you’re currently at. Coupled with a public feed, this could spell trouble. Fortunately, this feature can be turned off so that location doesn’t appear next to posts.
Parental Controls ✅
You can turn off the geotagging feature, but that’s about it when it comes to parental controls. And even this isn’t passcode protected, so for all intents and purposes, BeReal has no parental controls.
So, should my kid download it?
Probably not until they’re 16. The BeReal app is in the same vein as Instagram and contains many of the same dangers — there’s just less opportunity to post photos because of the time-sensitive nature of the app.
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