Limiting screen time is already a problem for adults and children alike. But this app is ideal for kids to put parents at ease.
Parents have accepted that children will be active online. But rather than try and prevent them accessing a site or driving them to do so secretly, it would be more effective to simply monitor their use.
It’s important for parents to discuss the potential dangers of using social media to kids and, if you’re allowing them to use it, talk to them about how to stay safe.
A friend of mine recently shared with me a picture from this app called BeReal. This French social media app asks its users to share a photo from whatever they are doing during a randomly selected two-minute window each day.
It allows you to take a selfie while simultaneously taking a rear view photo.
Since we are all so consumed with our respective lives, this is an exciting way for all of us to connect and I love it!
BeReal was released in 2020. It was developed by Alexis Barreyat and gained popularity with Gen Z in early 2022.
The app is suitable for kids so they can share their environment with their parents. Online privacy and the regulation of the huge social media organisations is something that should be of paramount importance.
Children under 13 are considered particularly vulnerable with access to websites, which include the large players such as Facebook and YouTube, and predators too.
While there are many apps available, the user review on BeReal commends the fact that it eliminates the editing part of social media as well as the pressure of posting picture-perfect posts.
It allows kids to post a photo once a day that will be shared with their circle of friends.
They can also view photos from other users they don’t know and friend those users. There’s no option to like posts, kids can instead take and use selfie versions of popular emojis, where they’re laughing, surprised or replicating other facial expressions.
BeReal asks users for a photo at a different time every day, but everyone receives the notification at once.
Theoretically, rather than merely sharing prepared and staged images, that should provide you a view of what your friends or other acquaintances are doing at that very moment.
The lack of filters and other editing options before sharing the photograph removes any stress related to creating witty captions or visually appealing images.
This app bills itself as a more authentic, less time-consuming social media experience than Instagram and Facebook and could be an interesting way to stay in touch.