TikTok copies BeReal with TikTok Now feature

On Sep 16, 2022

Since launching last year, BeReal has quickly become one of the most popular social media apps among youngsters, who are enticed by the ‘anti-Instagram’ ethos.

The app prompts users to take an unfiltered photo every day via the app’s camera, which snaps a selfie and a photo using the rear camera simultaneously.

Rather than letting users endlessly retake their photos to catch their best angle, the app gives users just two minutes to get the shot.

With the surge in popularity, it was only a matter of time before rival apps began to copy the simple premise.

This week, TikTok announced a copycat tool called TikTok Now, while Instagram confirmed last month that it is testing its own Candid Challenges feature.

TikTok announced the new TikTok Now feature in a blog on its website this week

BeReal prompts users to take an unfiltered photo every day via the app’s camera, which snaps a selfie and a photo using the rear camera simultaneously

What is BeReal?

BeReal was created by Alexis Barreyat, a developer based in Paris.

The premise is simple – everyday at a different time, users are notified to capture and share a photo in two minutes.

Users must use the in-app camera, which simultaneously snaps a photo with the front and rear facing cameras.

Like other social media apps, you can follow friends and see their photos in your main feed.

Alternatively, you can search through a Discovery page, where you can explore photos taken by users you do not follow.

If you miss the two minute window, you can post late, but can’t see your friends’ photos until you post your own.

TikTok announced the new TikTok Now feature in a blog on its website this week.

‘TikTok Now is the newest way to be entertained and connect with others on TikTok – a daily photo and video experience to share your most authentic moments with the people who matter the most,’ it explained.

‘TikTok Now brings the authenticity of TikTok to a whole new creative experience that connects you with those closest to you.’

TikTok Now will send users a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or a static photo using their phone’s front and rear cameras within three minutes.

It has a dedicated tab at the bottom of the screen – replacing the Friends tab – where users will be able to see their friends’ TikTok Now videos and photos.

‘We’re experimenting with TikTok Now over the coming weeks. In the US, TikTok Now can be accessed from the TikTok app,’ TikTok explained.

‘In other regions, TikTok Now may be available as a new TikTok Now app, too.

‘We’ll continue to enhance the user experience as we learn more about how the TikTok community embraces this new creative format.’

Several disgruntled BeReal fans were quick to point out the similarities between the two features.

One user tweeted: ‘everyone rips off tiktok and now tiktok rips off BEREAL??LMAOOOO.’

TikTok Now will send users a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or a static photo using their phone’s front and rear cameras within three minutes

The launch of TikTok Now comes just one month after Instagram announced it is testing a BeReal copycat, called Candid Challenges. The Candid Challenges feature was spotted by developer Alessandro Paluzzi

Another added: ‘TikTok launches its BeReal clone “TikTok Now”. You either die an innovator or live long enough to see yourself become the copycat.’

And one joked: ‘The moment we were able to take pictures of ourselves was the moment civilization started to fall.’

The launch of TikTok Now comes just one month after Instagram confirmed it is testing a BeReal copycat, called Candid Challenges.

The Candid Challenges feature was spotted by developer Alessandro Paluzzi.

‘Instagram is working on IG Candid Challenges, a feature inspired by BeReal,’ he tweeted, alongside a screenshot of what the feature looks like.

The screenshot itself reads: ‘Join IG Candid Challenges. Add other’s IG Candid to your story tray. And everyday at a different time, get a notification to capture and share a Photo in 2 Minutes.’

In response to the tweet, Meta spokeswoman Christine Pai said that IG Candid is an ‘internal prototype’ and is not being tested externally yet.

Young women who spend hours scrolling through Instagram are more likely to want cosmetic surgery

Young women are more likely to want to undergo cosmetic surgery if they spend hours scrolling through Instagram, a study has concluded.

Experts from the University of Surrey surveyed 247 Italian women — each aged between 19–32 — about their engagement with Instagram and body dissatisfaction.

Next, each participant was shown one of four videos of Instagram images — with varying degrees of sexualisation — and their associated comments.

Finally, the women completed follow-up questionnaires concerning their level of body dissatisfaction, mood and future cosmetic surgery intentions.

The team found that exposure to sexualised imagery from Instagram tended to increase the women’s levels of body dissatisfaction.