Gen Z might be tired of curating their image

1. I think BeReal is a pretty interesting social media platform

I think BeReal is a pretty interesting social media platform.

When I first saw it, honestly, I wondered why such an app would become popular.

To put it simply, BeReal is a social media app where you receive a notification at a random time once a day and post a photo on the spot.

When the notification arrives, you basically have to take the photo within two minutes.

Furthermore, when you take a photo, it captures images from both the front and back cameras of your smartphone simultaneously.

In other words, your face or current state and the scenery in front of you are captured at the same time.

Moreover, it is not designed for applying filters or doing detailed editing like on Instagram.

Rather than preparing, finding the right angle, setting up lighting, and choosing only the most flattering photos, it is an app for showing yourself where you are right now and the scenery of that moment.

The official BeReal help page also explains the design of posting within two minutes of receiving the Time to BeReal notification.

https://help.bereal.com/hc/en-us/articles/15416869159197--Time-to-BeReal-Notification

Thinking about it normally, it is inconvenient.

You cannot look your best.

You cannot prepare.

It is not photogenic.

Sometimes your room is messy.

Sometimes you look exhausted.

You might have just woken up.

You might be in the middle of class.

You might be at work.

It might just be a moment of looking at your smartphone.

If you think about it in terms of Instagram, it's a pretty messy social media platform.

But lately, I've started to understand it a little.

The reason BeReal resonated isn't just because it's real.

It's probably because it's acceptable not to look perfect.

To put it another way, BeReal isn't a social media platform where you don't curate.

It's a social media platform where you can excuse not looking perfect.

I think this is a huge factor.

2. Instagram has become a place for self-presentation

Instagram is now a highly polished space for self-presentation.

Angles.

Lighting.

Clothes.

Cafes.

Travel.

Meals.

Rooms.

Hairstyles.

Expressions.

Negative space.

Color tones.

Everything is optimized.

Of course, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Instagram is beautiful.

The photos, videos, and overall aesthetic are quite refined.

As a place to display the things you love, it remains quite powerful.

Fashion, interior design, travel, cafes, brands, creative work, and fragments of daily life.

Instagram is very well-suited for editing these things beautifully.

However, precisely because it is well-suited, it is exhausting.

If I'm going to post, I want to show it properly.

It feels a bit scary to post something taken haphazardly.

I don't want it to look too much like real life.

I don't want to look uncool.

I don't want my face to look unedited.

I don't want my room to look messy.

I'm afraid of someone thinking, 'Oh, so this is what this person is like.'

Instagram has become not just a record, but an edited version of myself for others to see.

In other words, it has become a place to manage how I am perceived every time I post.

This is fun.

But it is exhausting to keep doing it forever.

3. Embellishing is not evil

What I don't want to misunderstand here is that embellishing itself is not evil.

I want to look pretty.

I want to look cool.

I want to edit beautifully.

I want to make my life look a little better.

I want to create my own worldview.

These are natural desires.

Choosing clothes, styling hair, tidying up a room, and finding the right angle for a photo are all human acts, I think.

People do not just exist as they are.

They think about how to present themselves.

They think about what kind of person they want to be seen as.

They think about what kind of atmosphere they want to project.

That is not so much fiction as it is editing.

I wrote something similar when I wrote about desire before.

Even when people think they want something for themselves, their desires are mixed with the gazes of others, brands, and social media.

Embellishing is the same.

People edit themselves a little bit within the gaze of others.

There is no need to deny that in itself.

However, the problem is the atmosphere that says you must keep doing it forever.

If I can make myself look better, I want to.

But it gets tiring when you feel like you have to do it every single time.

Self-presentation, which should have been fun, has somehow become an obligation.

This is where social media fatigue comes from.

4. The two-minute window on BeReal is quite well-designed

The two-minute design of BeReal is quite well-thought-out.

A notification arrives.

You take a photo within two minutes.

You capture yourself and what is in front of you simultaneously using the front and back cameras.

There is almost no time to edit, find good lighting, change clothes, or tidy up the room.

This system actively hinders self-curation.

Of course, it is not impossible to curate your image entirely.

Some people might move around a bit after the notification arrives.

Some might retake the photo.

Some might post late.

Naturally, there is still room to try and look good on BeReal.

However, it is difficult to spend as much time crafting a specific aesthetic as you would on Instagram.

There is no time to choose an outfit.

There is no time to choose a location.

There is no time to find the right light.

There is no time to fix your face.

There is no time to tidy up the room.

That is precisely why it becomes a little easier for the person posting.

Because the reason you couldn't look your best is no longer your fault.

After all, you only had two minutes.

This is what it was like right now.

The notification came at this exact moment.

You can say things like that.

The app itself provides these excuses for you.

This is the important part.

BeReal appears to force you to be real.

But I think, psychologically, it is a social media platform that lets you off the hook a little for not being able to curate your image.

5. Not a social media platform that doesn't curate, but one where you can claim you couldn't

BeReal is less of a social media platform that doesn't curate, and more of one where you can claim you couldn't.

I think this is the interesting part of this app.

Choosing not to curate yourself is surprisingly difficult.

Posting on Instagram without makeup.

Showing the messiness of your room as it is.

Showing yourself in casual clothes.

Showing your boring daily life.

Doing that of your own volition takes a bit of courage.

Because it becomes your own choice.

You become the person who dared not to curate.

You become the person who dared to show reality.

Even there, another form of self-presentation emerges.

However, on BeReal, the system provides an excuse for you beforehand.

I was told to take it now.

I only had two minutes.

I couldn't prepare.

So this is fine.

This structure is quite kind.

The poster can show a version of themselves that isn't perfect.

But that doesn't mean they are taking full responsibility for showing their vulnerability.

They are showing it as a result of following the app's rules.

In other words, BeReal is an SNS that shows reality, while at the same time being an SNS that slightly disperses the responsibility of showing that reality.

This must have been quite significant for Gen Z.

They are a generation that has always been watched.

They are a generation that has always been filmed.

They are a generation that has always been compared.

In that context, a place where you can claim you couldn't curate is a great relief.

6. You can escape some of the responsibility for self-presentation

On Instagram, your posts are largely your own responsibility.

What to post.

Which photo to choose.

How to edit it.

What words to add.

Who to show it to.

When to post it.

Your editing choices are reflected in all of that.

That is precisely why it feels good when you look good.

But it is embarrassing if you don't look good.

BeReal lightens that responsibility a little.

It is not a post you chose entirely on your own.

I took it because the notification came.

It turned out this way because I was there.

I couldn't fix it because I only had two minutes.

Because of this structure, posts become a bit more accidental.

Being accidental is quite important on social media.

This is because accidents allow for failure.

Even if your face isn't perfectly curated, it's just a coincidence.

If your room looks mediocre, it's just a coincidence.

If you're doing nothing at that moment, it's just a coincidence.

If it's a coincidence, you don't have to take full responsibility for looking uncool.

There is a sense of relief in this.

The reason social media is exhausting is that you always have to manage how you are perceived.

BeReal offloads some of that management to a time limit.

That's why it feels a little easier.

7. It's not so much that they want reality, they're just tired

Perhaps what Gen Z was looking for wasn't complete reality, but a space where they wouldn't get tired of self-presentation.

I want people to see the real me.

I want to show my true self.

You could put it that way.

But to be more precise, I think they are just tired of constantly presenting an optimized version of themselves.

Enhancing.

Editing.

Selecting.

Deleting.

Showing.

Checking reactions.

Comparing.

Fixing it up again.

This cycle is quite exhausting.

Especially for a generation where social media is a part of daily life, self-presentation is not a special act.

It is a part of life.

That is precisely why it is tiring.

BeReal functioned as a counter to that fatigue.

It doesn't have to be beautiful.

It doesn't have to be interesting.

It doesn't have to be doing anything.

It doesn't have to be photogenic.

It's enough to just say, 'This is what I'm doing right now.'

This sense of 'it's enough' is important.

On modern social media, every time you post something, meaning is generated.

This person wants to be seen this way.

They are living this kind of life.

They have this kind of taste.

They are this kind of person.

That is how it is read.

BeReal weakens that reading a little.

After all, it was only two minutes.

With that one phrase, the meaning of a post becomes a little lighter.

8. BeReal will eventually be optimized too

However, this won't last forever either.

Even BeReal will eventually be optimized.

Or rather, there is already room for optimization.

The art of making things look natural.

The performance of looking like you're doing nothing.

How to create the feeling of not trying too hard.

Ways to make it look like you're having a fulfilling time by chance.

How to show a life that looks real.

Humans get used to any set of rules.

Once we get used to them, we figure out how to beat them.

Once we beat them, new performances are born there.

Even in a place born from being tired of curating, after a while, techniques emerge to curate in a way that looks uncurated.

This is quite human.

Realism also becomes just part of the atmosphere.

When it becomes atmosphere, it becomes a commodity.

When it becomes a commodity, we get tired of it again.

This is similar to the cycle of culture I wrote about before.

Culture is born from fatigue or a sense of discomfort with something.

However, once it spreads, it becomes marketized, institutionalized, and then another underground emerges.

BeReal is probably the same.

It emerged as a reaction to Instagram fatigue.

But if it spreads, BeReal-style authenticity will also become a style.

Not curating will become the next way to curate.

Reality will become the next performance.

9. Counterculture is always born from fatigue

Counterculture is often born from fatigue with something.

Fatigue with excessive rules.

Fatigue with a society that is too polished.

Fatigue with expressions that are too clean.

Fatigue with commercialized culture.

Fatigue with stories of success.

In that sense, BeReal might have been a small counterculture.

Fatigue with Instagram-style photogenic aesthetics.

Fatigue with self-presentation.

Fatigue with being constantly watched.

Fatigue with the atmosphere that you must curate properly.

Against that, a rough rule of taking a photo in two minutes is introduced.

Being rough, conversely, becomes a relief.

This sloppiness is important.

In places that are too perfect, it is hard for people to fail.

In places that are too polished, it is hard to show your true, quirky self.

In spaces designed for a perfect self-presentation, it becomes scary to show your unfinished self.

That is why we need places that are a little messy.

Places where you can fail a little.

Places where it is okay to be a little weird.

Places where it is acceptable not to be perfectly put together.

Perhaps BeReal resonated because it left room for this kind of sloppiness.

10. Even so, people will start curating again

However, people will start curating again.

This is probably unavoidable.

People want to be seen.

They want to be seen in a good light.

They want to be understood.

They want to be seen as a little special.

They want to look cool.

They want to look cute.

They want to look interesting.

They want to look like they are living a fulfilling life.

That desire never disappears.

Therefore, on any social media platform, some form of performance eventually emerges.

Even if curating is forbidden, people curate in a way that looks uncurated.

Even if editing is banned, people search for angles that look natural.

If authenticity is demanded, people create an appearance of authenticity.

This is both a human weakness and a fascinating trait.

People cannot be completely real.

The moment we are seen by someone else, we are already performing a little bit.

That is why viewing BeReal as purely authentic is slightly off the mark.

BeReal is not so much a social media platform for showing your true self, but rather one that lightens the burden of performance.

Humans perform.

But continuing to perform is exhausting.

That is why we seek places where we can claim we didn't quite manage to perform.

This is where the appeal of BeReal lies.

11. Conclusion

Gen Z might be tired of curating their image.

However, that does not mean they have come to dislike curating.

Curating is fun.

Self-presentation is fun.

Making oneself look beautiful, making oneself look cool, and editing one's life to look aesthetic are all natural human desires.

But being expected to do that all the time is exhausting.

Instagram pushed the perfection of self-presentation too far.

So, as a reaction, people needed a place where they could claim they couldn't look their best.

BeReal is not an SNS that doesn't allow for curation.

It is an SNS that allows you to claim you couldn't curate.

I only had two minutes.

This is what I was doing right now.

I couldn't prepare.

So this is fine.

The system provides that excuse for you in advance.

I think that's where the sense of relief came from.

But BeReal, too, will be optimized.

Even naturalness becomes a style.

Reality also becomes a performance.

What started as a counterculture becomes just another part of the atmosphere once it spreads.

And people start looking for the next underground.

Perhaps the history of social media is just that cycle repeating.

Curate.

Get tired.

Escape.

The place they escaped to will also be embellished.

And then, they will look for another place.

Humans are always troublesome.

But I think it is because of that trouble that the next culture is born.

I also wrote about the flow of how social media and culture create new places out of fatigue and discomfort, only to be optimized again, in this article.

I delve into whether desires and self-presentation are truly our own, or if they are things we were made to want by someone else, here.

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