“Unfiltered” social app BeReal is sold after pandemic growth didn’t turn into real engagement
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Time to BeReal… During the pandemic, anti-Instagram social app BeReal gained massive traction with college students for showcasing “real” moments (#NoFilter). Every day, BeReal users were prompted to take a spontaneous selfie and front-facing pic at a random time (impossible to Facetune). But after a huge boom in BeReal downloads (it was No. 1 on the Apple App Store for much of summer 2022), growth has dropped off. Now:
BeBought: French mobile-apps publisher Voodoo is buying BeReal for about $540M, and BeReal’s CEO and cofounder will leave the company.
Real struggle: After its fleeting success, BeReal was struggling to grow its users and running out of cash. It was reportedly searching for a buyer.
Enter the buyer: Voodoo said it plans to implement a “sustainable business model,” including bringing ads to BeReal for the first time.
Not a highlight reel… Unlike TikTok, Instagram, and other endlessly scrollable social platforms, BeReal doesn’t allow “likes,” photos disappear after a day, and users must post to see their friends’ pictures. BeReal feeds aren’t filled with content from influencers, advertisers, and celebs, which was part of its initial appeal. But that appears to have faded: BeReal’s monthly users dropped from 15M in October 2022 to 6M in March 2023, according to Platformer (Voodoo says BeReal has 40M+ active users).
Despite BeReal’s decline, its early success suggests that younger gens may be starting to resent traditional social apps. Social-media use has been linked to anxiety and depression in teens.
Social media feeds on escapism… There’s a reason apps like TikTok and Insta are so addicting: algorithms. People love to hate them, but no one can deny they work. In a 2022 Pew survey, roughly one in five US teens said they used TikTok and YouTube “almost constantly.” BeReal was most similar to Snap (disappearing pics to friends), but even Snap has added algorithm-driven feeds like Discover and Spotlight (its TikTok copycat). BeReal didn’t have an engagement algo, and it turns out that your friends’ selfies aren’t that addicting.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated that Voodoo was buying BeReal for about $540K. The amount is $540M. We regret the error.