Instagram copies (anti-Instagram app) BeReal

Today, it is almost impossible to imagine our daily social media routine without BeReal. Also, the awareness of the app continues to grow and BeReal is currently used by more than 21 million people worldwide.

At a random time of day, you get a notification to take a picture of what you are doing at that moment. You share this photo with your friends, who ideally take a photo at the same time. The aim is to share the photo within two minutes of the notification. Have you shared your photo? Then you will be able to see your friends’ photos afterwards.

The name says it all, the power of BeReal is that you show real images. On BeReal there are no flattering filters or other effects to make the perfect picture. With this, BeReal wants to make a statement against platforms like Instagram, where filters and therefore too perfect photos are unthinkable.

Candid Challenges. Where there are successful social media developments, there are copycats. In this case, it is the old familiar platform Instagram, and that is not for the first time. In the past, we have often seen Instagram take over functions from competing apps. This became clear when both Instagram Stories, which are based on Snapchat, and Instagram Shorts, which are exactly like the videos on TikTok, were introduced on the social media platform.

To add to this Instagram is currently testing features that are dangerously similar to those of BeReal, Alessandro Paluzzi discovered. Instagram is asking users to participate in a so-called ‘IG Candid Challenge’, where users must share a photo on their Instagram Story within two minutes at a different time each day. What makes it even more remarkable is that this feature also uses dual-camera shots, where the front and back camera take a picture at the same time. This is one of BeReal’s most distinctive features.

Although the Candid Challenge is still only a test, it shows that Instagram has no qualms about blatantly copying competitor’s features. Do you think this will definitely become a new feature of Instagram?