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"Sharing, Not Showing Off": How BeReal Approaches Authentic Self-Presentation on Social Media Through Its Design

JaeWon Kim, Robert Wolfe, Ishita Chordia, Katie Davis, Alexis Hiniker

TL;DR

The paper investigates how BeReal's design influences authentic self-presentation among adolescents through a qualitative study of 29 teens. It introduces the Social Media Self-Presentation Matrix ($SMSM$) to theorize modes of self-presentation (Automatic vs Controlled; Self-Expressive vs Self-Enhancing) and assesses BeReal against this framework, highlighting design features that promote spontaneity, audience curation, and minimalism. The findings show BeReal can reduce posting pressure and social comparison while fostering casual, close-knit relationship-building, but also reveal downsides such as coercive authenticity pressures, new forms of toxicity, and limited depth of self-disclosure. The paper offers design guidelines to support authentic self-presentation beyond BeReal, emphasizing reciprocal sharing, audience protection, and expanded modalities of self-expression, with clear implications for teens' developmental needs and online relationship-building.

Abstract

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the pressures created by social media, such as heightened self-consciousness and the need for extensive self-presentation. In this study, we investigate how BeReal, a social media platform designed to counter some of these pressures, influences adolescents' self-presentation behaviors. We interviewed 29 users aged 13-18 to understand their experiences with BeReal. We found that BeReal's design focuses on spontaneous sharing, including randomly timed daily notifications and reciprocal posting, discourages staged posts, encourages careful curation of the audience, and reduces pressure on self-presentation. The space created by BeReal offers benefits such as validating an unfiltered life and reframing social comparison, but its approach to self-presentation is sometimes perceived as limited or unappealing and, at times, even toxic. Drawing on this empirical data, we propose design guidelines for platforms that support authentic self-presentation while fostering reciprocity and expanding beyond spontaneous photo-sharing. These guidelines aim to enable users to portray themselves more comprehensively and accurately, ultimately supporting teens' developmental needs, particularly in building authentic relationships.

"Sharing, Not Showing Off": How BeReal Approaches Authentic Self-Presentation on Social Media Through Its Design

TL;DR

The paper investigates how BeReal's design influences authentic self-presentation among adolescents through a qualitative study of 29 teens. It introduces the Social Media Self-Presentation Matrix () to theorize modes of self-presentation (Automatic vs Controlled; Self-Expressive vs Self-Enhancing) and assesses BeReal against this framework, highlighting design features that promote spontaneity, audience curation, and minimalism. The findings show BeReal can reduce posting pressure and social comparison while fostering casual, close-knit relationship-building, but also reveal downsides such as coercive authenticity pressures, new forms of toxicity, and limited depth of self-disclosure. The paper offers design guidelines to support authentic self-presentation beyond BeReal, emphasizing reciprocal sharing, audience protection, and expanded modalities of self-expression, with clear implications for teens' developmental needs and online relationship-building.

Abstract

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the pressures created by social media, such as heightened self-consciousness and the need for extensive self-presentation. In this study, we investigate how BeReal, a social media platform designed to counter some of these pressures, influences adolescents' self-presentation behaviors. We interviewed 29 users aged 13-18 to understand their experiences with BeReal. We found that BeReal's design focuses on spontaneous sharing, including randomly timed daily notifications and reciprocal posting, discourages staged posts, encourages careful curation of the audience, and reduces pressure on self-presentation. The space created by BeReal offers benefits such as validating an unfiltered life and reframing social comparison, but its approach to self-presentation is sometimes perceived as limited or unappealing and, at times, even toxic. Drawing on this empirical data, we propose design guidelines for platforms that support authentic self-presentation while fostering reciprocity and expanding beyond spontaneous photo-sharing. These guidelines aim to enable users to portray themselves more comprehensively and accurately, ultimately supporting teens' developmental needs, particularly in building authentic relationships.
Paper Structure (43 sections, 2 figures, 2 tables)

This paper contains 43 sections, 2 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Adolescents and the Developmental Significance of Authentic Self-Disclosure
  4. Authentic Self-Disclosure and Self-Presentation
  5. Challenges with Authentic Self-Presentation Online
  6. Online Authenticity and Technology Design
  7. Background
  8. Method
  9. Participants and Recruitment
  10. Procedure
  11. Data Analysis
  12. Ethical Considerations and Researchers' Positionality
  13. Results
  14. How BeReal's Design Encourages Authentic Self-Presentation
  15. Designs that discourage staging.
  16. ...and 28 more sections

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Screenshots of BeReal features: (a) randomly timed daily notification; (b) a 2-minute countdown timer for BeReals taken on time; (c) timestamp for a late BeReal with a "late" status; (d) the number of retakes; (e) & (f) front and back photos; (g) feedback on photo encouraging users to show their faces; (h) Instant Realmoji that requires users to take a photo each time; (i) Instant Realmoji used on a post; (j) text explaining reciprocal posting; (k) text explicitly encouraging users to add closer friends
  • Figure 2: The Social Media Self-Presentation Matrix: A 2x2 matrix with two types of self-presentation goals based on Schlenker's work on self-presentation Schlenker2003-yn. On the horizontal axis: "Self-Enhancing" (i.e., strategic social maneuvering goal) and "Self-Expressive" (i.e., accurate self-portrayal goal). On the vertical axis, we categorize the cognitive process of self-presentation as either "Automatic" (i.e., without conscious awareness, with minimal cognitive effort) or "Controlled" (i.e., deliberate, planned). The quadrant of Controlled and Self-Enhancing self-presentation is exemplified by the general strategy of highly manicured self-presentation on broadcast social media platforms like Instagram. BeReal is intended to fall under the Automatic, Self-Expressive quadrant. We identify a design opportunity for social media platforms to move toward the Controlled, Self-Expressive quadrant. This quadrant would represent a more realistic approach toward authenticity, considering the intricacies of social media interactions, such as privacy issues, and the developmental characteristics of teens, such as heightened self-consciousness. We anticipate that a shift toward this quadrant could, in the long run, lead users or platform norms toward Automatic, Self-Expressive self-presentation, which is what BeReal aims to achieve.