Memes Inspired By The Popular BeReal App Are Going Viral

Chances are, if you’re on the internet, or have been in proximity of any social media-savvy person when the daily BeReal alarm is sent out, then you’ve heard of BeReal. Since launching in 2019, the candid photo app has been blowing up in Gen Z circles and beyond. And, in the past few weeks, BeReal’s influence has transcended beyond its up-and-coming app. As meme-ers have tried their hand at hilarious mockups of BeReal posts, there’s never been a more popular time to BeReal.

If you’ve been completely mystified by the influx of “It’s time to BeReal” tweets on your Twitter timeline, you’ll first need to understand how BeReal works. Essentially, at a different time every day, every user on BeReal gets an alert to post a picture of what they’re currently doing. The app takes a photo from the front and back cameras of your phone, depicting what you’re looking at and what you look like at the current moment. With two minutes on the clock, and no filters available, the app pushes users to post a completely candid account of their daily life.

Of course, as the app has gained popularity, internet users have taken the minimalist app and completely meme-ified it to imagine what the BeReal posts of different occasions might look like. (i.e., Nicole Kidman walking into an AMC.) Like most memes of today, it’s the perfect blend of timely and completely dadaist. And, much like BeReal itself, the meme format is completely taking off.

Whether you’re a daily BeReal poster, or are completely new to the app, here’s everything you need to know about the BeReal meme.

How Are People Using the BeReal Meme Format?

Though BeReal launched in 2019, the app seems to have especially grown in popularity in 2022, as NPR reports that the app’s downloads have increased by 315% this year. However, the BeReal meme doesn’t seem to have taken off until some time in late July of 2022.

Just as the daily BeReal notification might find users in some pretty peculiar situations (see: on the toilet, with your ex, etc.), internet users have dreamt up some of the absolutely best — and worst — moments for a BeReal to be posted.

Most of the popular BeReal memes seem to circulate around moments in television, film, and pop culture. Say, for instance Florence Pugh’s view at the end of Midsommar, or Elio’s heartbreaking view at the end of Call Me By Your Name.

But, as the meme has grown, these references have gotten even more niche (i.e., Remy the rat from Ratatouille’s back camera capturing the inside of Chef Linguini’s hat.)

Some have even achieved a level of meme-ception, as many have used preexisting memes as fodder for their fake BeReals. Nothing says authentic like Boo from Monsters Inc., crying behind a steering wheel. Nothing says honest like a BeReal playing along with the internet conspiracy that Lea Michele can’t read. And no BeReal could ever be more perfect than Nicole Kidman walking into an AMC Theater. Being real feels good in a place like this.

How Do I Post My Own BeReal Meme?

The format of BeReal posts is fairly simple, which makes meme-ing one just as easy. All you really need to do is crop your “front-facing” photo into the top left corner of your hypothetical BeReal’s back camera view. If you want to make it extra realistic, give the smaller image rounded corners and a thin black border. KapWing also offers a BeReal meme template, which can make the process even easier.

Once you’ve composed your hilarious doctored BeReal image, caption it with “It’s time to BeReal,” and post it as effortlessly as you would share a real BeReal.