Meanwhile, BeReal users only have one chance to delete their pic and post another one. They also can’t post more than one at any one time. The location where you took the photo is also available to other users, too. What’s more, BeReal doesn’t allow for any photo filters or other types of editing. Meaning that it’s seen as an alternative to Instagram.
Whether you think that BeReal is awesome or awesomely overhyped doesn’t change the fact that the internet—and especially social media—is in dire need of an authenticity boost. Photo editing apps and the widespread use of photo-editing techniques aren’t good for people’s mental health and self-confidence. You’re constantly bombarded with photos and videos of ‘perfect’ people living ‘perfect’ lives on nearly all of your social media feeds. That can make you deeply unsatisfied with your ‘mundane’ life.
A while back, Bored Panda spoke about the negative effects of heavily photoshopping pics with u/Cluelessnumber7, one of the moderators running the massively popular r/Instagramreality subreddit.
"The first [negative effect]? The unrealistic expectations influencers purport to their impressionable followers. The amazingly smooth skin, suddenly common almond-shaped eyes, pouty lips, sharp jaw lines, slim hourglass shapes, and so on," they explained.
"What’s being lost by just posting that photo for the masses is the time it took to pick the outfit, hunt down the right lighting, pick which hand to take the selfies with (yes, seriously), and that’s all before smoothing, refining, and resizing in Facetune. Without disclosing that, there is now a countless amount of people comparing themselves (and perhaps spending money to look like) a person who doesn’t exist," the moderator told Bored Panda during an interview, earlier.
"The second [negative effect] is one that many people don’t like to address—the insecurities of those who feel the need to edit their photos. They’ve been editing their photos for so long it could mean losing the validation from their followers, losing followers, and maybe losing sponsors if they came clean. So, they would rather enjoy the false fame, than risk losing it over integrity,” they said.
"Filters have become a crutch for so many people on Instagram that they now edit their still photos to look like their filtered Snapchat videos; adjusting their noses, tone of their skin, smoothing all blemishes, adding lashes in post. These filters, while fun, are surprisingly insidious. You don’t realize that you expect to look like the filtered version of yourself, until you attempt to take a photo without them,” they suggested that it’s vital to fight back against all types of filters that alter the shape, size, or proportions of a person’s body and face.
