Once a day, teenagers across the world scurry for their phones in a haste to take a picture of themselves before the end of a 120-second timer. BeReal has teens globally anticipating when the next alert will be and hoping it’s at a time they deem worthy of posting. After uploading their own post, users can then view and react to others’ posts. BeReal has broken into a new realm of social media never before explored.

Some BeReal users feel the app has created a healthier, less formal social media presence that was much needed for Gen Z. The spontaneity of the app forces peoples’ posts to be unplanned in the otherwise pre-planned world of social media.

“I feel more comfortable on BeReal because there’s like no expectation or standard other people are expecting me to meet in comparison to like Instagram and Snap,” says sophomore Madison Sullivan.

Although BeReal was created with an aim to fashion a more casual mode of social media, some feel the app actually stresses expectations more so than other social media apps.

“I feel like I can’t even post because when I look at other people’s BeReal’s, they’re out literally doing the most exciting stuff and there’s me at home watching TV,” said senior Lila Manson.

As the app continues to grow in popularity and teenagers keep it a trending topic, its future is unbounded. But its influence on today’s teens is still up for discussion.

“I don’t really know if it’s gonna last or if it’s just gonna be another 6- month trend,” says Sullivan.