BeReal, the new social network that encourages authenticity, has already had more than 50 million downloads, but hasn’t caught on yet

The often false and exaggerated life shown by users of social networks – particularly those who make this exhibition a way to make a living – has led to the emergence of an Internet movement against filter-filled images and even the birth of a new social network focused on user authenticity and spontaneity. : the Be realor “to be real” in Portuguese.

Launched in December 2019, BeReal encourages the user to take one photo a day, every day, with the front and rear cameras of their mobile phone. The idea is that this photo is spontaneous, without major productions, and that it is posted without filters or modifications.

To achieve this feat, the social network is betting on a tool that encourages strong user engagement: the daily photo must be taken and posted within two minutes of a daily notification. The user is not obliged to publish, but can only do so within this time window.

Since its launch here, BeReal has had more than 50 million downloads worldwide and has seen more than 2,000% growth in the number of monthly active users, but the incentive for daily engagement still seems to have not worked.

BeReal go ‘flopar’?

According to a survey by Sensor Tower – which estimates BeReal’s total number of downloads at 53 million, counting both iOS and Android devices – only 9% of the social network’s active users on Android devices actually open the app every time. . The data is from the third quarter of this year.

Active users are those who have downloaded the app and are actually using it, even if not every day. This is a better metric than the number of downloads to show if an app is really “catching”.

And in this sense, BeReal is still far behind its competitors. On Instagram, for example, 39% of active users open the app every day. That number is 29% on Tik Tok, 27% on Facebook, 26% on Snapchat, 20% on YouTube and 18% on Twitter.

The percentage of active users who open the app every day only on Android, however, can be a bit misleading, as new apps tend to be adopted faster by those who use the iOS system. In addition, the network is aimed at the young American audience, among the most popular Apple devices.

Nonetheless, at least as far as downloads are concerned, BeReal is already becoming popular even in the lands of Tupiniquin, where the app had 1 million downloads in September, bringing Brazil to the second place in the list of countries that have downloaded it. more month. , according to Sensor Tower.

* With information from TechCrunch