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Here's how it works. Once a day you get a notification from the app. It tells you that it's time to post your BeReal for the day and you have two minutes to do so. Your friends are also supposed to get the notification at the same time.

The idea is you take a photo of whatever you're doing at that time, no matter how mundane or exciting. You could be walking to class, taking a bus to work, or maybe you get the notification right as you're sitting down for dinner or on a bike ride.

You take one photo of what you're doing with your back-facing camera, and at the same time, your phone takes a photo of you with your front-facing camera – surprise!

That's it. There are no filters or third-party apps to change your appearance. Retakes are allowed and you can still post if you miss the window, but in both cases, your friends will see that you retook the image or posted late.

The parameters in place are billed by the app as "a new and unique way to discover who your friends really are in their daily life."

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The intended result is unfiltered social media, a strike against highly curated Instagram feeds and effortful, effect-filled TikTok videos.

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Social media can be time-consuming and pressure-inducing, but BeReal says it is aiming to change that.