[Sunday Culture] When the Alarm Rings, Immediate Proof Shot... Generation Z Communicates Without Editing

Popular 'Bi Real' App Among Japan's Gen Z
Random Alarms and Basic Camera Verification Shots... Sharing Photos Without Editing or Settings

"There are so many talented people. Someone went somewhere for a trip. I didn’t press like; I thought I was the only one like this. Over there on Instagram, inside Instagram~"

This is a line from singer Dean’s song "Instagram." Everyone knows that SNS only shows the good life, but we keep suffering by comparing ourselves to others’ visible appearances.

Meanwhile, another SNS is trending in Japan. It’s an application called "Be real."

The amazing thing about this app is that unlike existing SNS where you edit, select, and carefully choose well-taken photos to upload, you just have to take and upload a photo in real-time within a limited time when a random alarm sounds once a day. I was shocked thinking, "What on earth do you take with a basic camera without any editing?" I guess it’s time for me to step down from the position of the older generation.

Today, I introduce Japan’s favorite app among people in their teens and twenties, "Be real," a communication method of Generation Z without editing.

Posts uploaded within 2 minutes after the 'Be Real' notification. (Photo by Be Real)

Be real was launched in France in 2019. Once a day, a random notification sounds on your smartphone. When the notification comes, you must take and upload a photo within 2 minutes. You cannot use previously taken photos saved on your phone or other apps. You have to upload the raw, unfiltered, real-time original photo. The notification can come in the morning, at night when everyone is asleep, or at any unknown time.

Additionally, it simultaneously takes photos with the front and rear cameras, capturing your face and your current location at once. If you think, "I can’t show my current state to anyone," you can simply choose not to upload. However, if you don’t share your photo, you cannot see other people’s posts.

Other people’s posts disappear after one day. So when the app’s notification sounds, everyone takes photos simultaneously and shares them, allowing you to know the real-time situation. It literally shares the "real."

Originally, Be real was popular in the West. According to the American research company Data AI, the number of Be real downloads surpassed 10 million as of May 2022. The largest user bases were in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. It also succeeded in Japan, where a survey showed that 80% of university students know the Be real app. This means the number of users is increasing accordingly. In fact, this year, at a Coming-of-Age ceremony held on Coming-of-Age Day, a Be real alarm went off, and the scene of everyone taking selfies simultaneously with their smartphones was introduced in the Japanese media.

This application’s unpredictable once-a-day alarm means you don’t have to worry or prepare what to post on SNS. It does not count the number of "likes" on posts or the number of followers on your account. When close friends accept your follow request, you simply see their posts. There is no world of influencers created by follower counts or likes.

Examples of using the Be Real application. (Photo by Be Real)

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) evaluated, "Young people tired of the images shown on SNS can enjoy real life with this structure," and "Even people skilled at editing are on equal footing here, so there is no need to compete or worry."

However, there are some problems. Because of the random alarm, notifications ring even during classes, causing commotion as students take photos, and more students have started taking photos in hallways.

Still, it is too influential to dismiss as a passing trend during school days. According to a survey conducted by LINE Research in September last year targeting people in their teens and twenties, Be real ranked 4th in the "SNS likely to become more popular in the future" ranking. It reportedly ranked high across all age and gender groups.

Although it started as a trend among Generation Z, there are definitely points to consider. Haven’t we all mindlessly scrolled through SNS, only to feel stressed and switch our smartphones back to a black screen? In that context, the attempt to show everyone equally with a basic camera without time to decorate or prepare is interesting. It is bittersweet that the only way to overcome the harms of SNS is through SNS itself. But it probably means many people now feel the side effects of SNS. It might be good to spend precious weekend time focusing on yourself instead of the internet.