In a devastating turn of events, Instagram is beta testing its own version of BeReal...
. Like BeReal, it prompts users to take a photo at a random time each day. Instagram’s BeReal copycat is eerily similar to BeReal, even allotting users two minutes in which to take a photo, using, of course, the front and rear-facing camera.
Intellectual property is notoriously hard to protect, and big fish apps can literally destroy their competition without a second thought. Instagram already took Stories from Snapchat and Reels from TikTok While it’s mildly entertaining to watch Meta, it’s in these perilous times that we must protect the little guy.
BeReal may have its flaws; for example, it’s charmingly laggy when it prompts you to “Be Real,” because that’s when virtually all of its users are on the app, overloading its sweet little servers. But BeReal is the only bright corner of the internet right now, a place that rewards the mundane; that honors makeup-free photos; that celebrates the grueling hours you spend in office Zooms as much as it does drinks out with friends.
“This feature is an internal prototype, and not testing externally,” Meta spokesperson Christine Pai toldIt’s also worth noting that Instagram already copied a signature part of BeReal: its dual camera, which allows you to simultaneously take a photo from your front and rear-facing cameras.