Only 9% of BeReal Users Post First Take, Study Finds
Published on: 11 Oct 2022 | Author: Jorge Uceda
Marketing Reports
In this Marketing Report:
- 20% of BeReal Users Claim Authenticity is the (Temporary) Appeal
- 5-10 Minutes a Day Is Ideal on BeReal
- 9% Post First Take on BeReal, the Rest Post the 3rd
- Do People Post on BeReal When Notified?
- 86% of People Want to Edit Their BeReal Photos
- Is BeReal a Hype?
- Conclusion: Users Still Care About Their Image Online
- Methodology
There’s a new kid in town: BeReal, a social media app… described as anything but traditional social media.
Its popularity has now caused dozens of competitors to appear, and even established giants like Instagram and TikTok to launch their own version of a more natural, authentic social network.
But after taking a look at actual user behaviour on BeReal, the latest Sortlist study now sees a different pattern in the works: authenticity on BeReal is not what people are looking for.
20%
Percentage of people who feel BeReal is “more authentic”
3 Pictures
Minimum number of takes users do before posting on BeReal
FOMO
14% post only when they want to see what others posted
20% of BeReal Users Claim Authenticity is the (Temporary) Appeal
What’s the Gist of BeReal?
In a few words, the new social media app sends a notification at a different time every day encouraging users to post a selfie and, simultaneously, a picture with the rear camera to show what the user was doing in the moment.
According to Screen Rant, this approach “gives users less control over their pictures but makes up for it with a more authentic representation of each user.”
Our survey indicates similarly, with 20.46% of respondents saying the main appeal of BeReal is that it “feels more authentic.”
Boomers and Millennials Do Not Want to Miss Out
17.05% said that the fact that the app is now trendy is its main appeal. In particular, 35-year-olds all the way to 54-year-olds do not want to miss out, since they are the ones that consider BeReal’s trendy nature the thing they like the most.
5-10 Minutes a Day Is Ideal on BeReal
Over 10MM Active Users
Devised as the anti-social media app, BeReal now has over 10 million daily active users, underscoring its popularity.
On average, these are the amounts of time that users spend per day on BeReal.
| Time That Users Spend per Day on BeReal |
| 5-10 minutes per day (33%) |
| 10-30 minutes per day (27%) |
| 30 minutes—1 hour per day (18%) |
| 2-5 minutes per day (12%) |
| More than 1 hour per day (5%) |
| 1-2 minutes per day (5%) |
This is very far from the average time users spend on social media overall. In particular, a previous Sortlist study on digital screen time revealed that, per day, people spend an average of 145 minutes on social media. But even with time as little as 5-10 minutes, BeReal users still care about the way they appear online.
9% Post First Take on BeReal, the Rest Post the 3rd
Little Time to Post
BeReal’s main differentiator with other social media apps is the little time it gives users to post a photo. But that does not stop them from being picky about it. Only 9% of users post the first snap they take on the app.
In fact, our study reveals that 35.60% take at least 3 pictures before deciding to post.
Women Are Pickier Than Men When it Comes to Posting
In general, women tend to be more selective with their photos; both men and women will post after 2 or 3 snaps, but women said they are least likely to post after the first take and are more willing than men to have at least 4 takes before posting.
Gen Z and Older Users Care Less About their Photos
Curiously, there is common ground between Gen Z (18-24 years old) and middle-aged users (45-54 years old): both are willing to do as little as 2 takes before posting.
Do People Post on BeReal When Notified?
½ People Wait Until Doing Something Interesting to Post
When ⚠️ that notification ⚠️ arrives, more than half of users wait until they’re doing something interesting before posting (53.80%).
| What Users Do When They Receive a BeReal Notification |
| Wait until something interesting to post (53.80%) |
| Post just as the notification appears (30.30%) |
| Post just to be able to see someone else’s picture (14.40%) |
| Disregard post at all (1.60%) |
14% of People Post When They Want to See What Others Posted
Like most social media apps, BeReal plays on the “fear of missing out” (FOMO), successfully inviting people, especially women (18.10%) and 25-34 year-olds (18.84%), to engage with the app only to see what others are doing.
86% of People Want to Edit Their BeReal Photos
It’s Not Enough to Post Naturally; Some Editing is Desired
As if that weren’t enough, BeReal users (86.40%) overwhelmingly revealed that they wished they could be able to edit the pictures they post.
Is BeReal a Hype?
Whether BeReal is more authentic or not than other social apps, there’s one thing its users can agree on: the app is here to stay.
65% of respondents said they thought the app will become “the next big social media.”
Still, a quick search on Google Trends confirms that authenticity may not be that appealing to users. Rising trends are related to account deletion.
Conclusion: Users Still Care About Their Image Online
Are BeReal users keepin’ it real? The data from our latest survey reveals otherwise; it seems, in the end, that users would like to have more control over their images and how they post them.
The contrast can be seen between what most people described as a “more authentic app” and:
- The number of takes they tend to do before deciding to post.
- The fact that they prefer to wait to be doing something interesting in order to post.
Yet, the app’s future seems to be in good hands, with 28 million downloads and close to 70% of users believing it is here to stay.
Methodology
This survey was conducted between September 26th and September 30th, 2022. We surveyed 1000 BeReal users in 5 languages throughout Europe. In the study, we asked users about their behaviour on BeReal and the appeal the app provides them. The responses are anonymous.
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