BeReal lives: Japan is giving the “anti-Instagram” app a second chance at life

The “anti-Instagram” app that seemingly died in 2023 is getting a second chance at life. Gen Z Japanese users, in particular, appreciate the authenticity of apps like BeReal.

Despite its decline in recent years, BeReal is making somewhat of a resurgence in countries like Japan.

In an interview with media outlet Nikkei Asia, BeReal’s CEO Aymeric Roffe said that Japan is the country where they’re seeing the most traction.

According to Business of Apps, BeReal was downloaded about 3.5 million times and is becoming a “fast-growing and highly engaged market,” according to its CEO.

The social media app has more than 4.5 million monthly active users in the country, the majority of which are between the ages of 14 and 27. BeReal’s CEO told Nikkei Asia that 90% of these users “actively create content.”

This may be due to Gen Z’s desire for authenticity in a highly manufactured social media landscape. Perfectly curated Instagram feeds and TikTok For You pages are no longer appealing.

Instead, rugged and homegrown content is appreciated by this demographic, particularly in areas like Japan.

BeReal’s CEO told Nikkei Asia that Japanese users tend to use the app as a “group experience” shared with friends.

Users will take pictures and share them, as well as use BeReal’s emoji function, where they can record live reactions to users’ posts.

The French app BeReal took center stage in September 2022 as an alternative to the preened and overly manufactured stylings of social media platforms like Instagram.

Across the App Store and Google Play Store, BeReal had roughly 53 million downloads worldwide.

Since its launch, BeReal has been downloaded 115 million times, according to Business of Apps.

However, the hype quickly faded as, according to App Figures, these figures dropped to about 1.2 million downloads in May 2024.

Following this steep decline in downloads and users, the French developers sold BeReal to mobile app developer VooDoo for roughly €500 million.

Since the acquisition, there has been no talk of what the company plans to do with the “authentic” social media app.