• by Colin Kirkland , April 24, 2023

BeReal –– the purposefully unglamorous one-post-a-day social media app –– has a new feature that incentivizes users to post on time (an integral part of the BeReal experience) by offering them up to two additional posts per day.

Over the past year, BeReal has made a name for itself as the “anti-Instagram” platform, inviting users to reclaim a more realistic representation of themselves on social media.

Once a day the app alerts all users to post, giving everyone two minutes to upload an image of whatever they are doing at the time, including a selfie. If users retake their photo or post late, the app makes a note of it under the post.

Due to its spark in popularity -- especially among Gen Z users -- it didn’t take long for TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat to release copycat versions of BeReal, utilizing the simultaneous front- and back-camera feature in various ways. 

The company, based in France, has now announced that it has over 20 million daily active users and recently closed a $60 million Series B round at a $587 million valuation, according to reports by TechCrunch.

The new feature -- Bonus BeReal -- gifts users two additional posts they can upload whenever they want if they upload their first post on time, and one extra post if they miss the prescribed window.

The incentive of Bonus BeReal is likely to address the fact that many users don’t post when they are alerted -- often waiting to post when they are doing something more exciting than hitting the gym or falling asleep at their desk. 

“We’ve all been there…” BeReal wrote in a blog post. “The BeReal notification goes off before we’re at the concert, out to dinner, or connecting with family and friends, and we’re faced with the ultimate decision: post late or miss the moment.”

“It's a clever way to boost engagement,” writes TechCrunch. “But it could also shift the app's culture.”

Bonus BeReal is currently live in the United Kingdom, and is expected to roll out to other countries soon.