"Sharing, Not Showing Off": How BeReal Approaches Authentic Self-Presentation on Social Media Through Its Design

TL;DR

This study examines how BeReal's design promotes authentic self-presentation among adolescents by encouraging spontaneous sharing and reducing social pressures, offering insights for designing social media platforms that foster genuine connections.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into BeReal's impact on adolescent self-presentation and proposes design guidelines for authentic and reciprocal social media experiences.

Findings

BeReal's design discourages staged posts and promotes spontaneous sharing.

Users perceive BeReal as reducing social pressure and fostering authenticity.

The platform's approach can be perceived as limited or toxic by some users.

Abstract

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the pressures created by social media, such as heightened self-consciousness and the need for extensive self-presentation. In this study, we investigate how BeReal, a social media platform designed to counter some of these pressures, influences adolescents' self-presentation behaviors. We interviewed 29 users aged 13-18 to understand their experiences with BeReal. We found that BeReal's design focuses on spontaneous sharing, including randomly timed daily notifications and reciprocal posting, discourages staged posts, encourages careful curation of the audience, and reduces pressure on self-presentation. The space created by BeReal offers benefits such as validating an unfiltered life and reframing social comparison, but its approach to self-presentation is sometimes perceived as limited or unappealing and, at times, even toxic. Drawing on this empirical data, we propose design guidelines for platforms that support authentic self-presentation while fostering reciprocity and expanding beyond spontaneous photo-sharing. These guidelines aim to enable users to portray themselves more comprehensively and accurately, ultimately supporting teens' developmental needs, particularly in building authentic relationships.