A San Diego woman claims that the BeReal app picked a nude photo from the photo library on her phone and posted it for the world—or, at least, the global BeReal audience—to see.
The video showcasing the reaction to the news comes from creator Kate (@getittogetherkate), who posted it on Thursday. It has received nearly 164,000 views in its first day up on TikTok. In it, Kate says a particularly personal photo made it on the photo-sharing app, which originated in France and claims to be “your daily dose of real life.”
BeReal is a photo-sharing app that purports to be a different kind of social media app. According to its site, it does not share its user numbers and eschews ads. The basic concept for its members involves sending a daily photo from wherever you are to let people know what you’re doing at that particular time.
The site notes, “Every day, everyone in your time zone receives a notification at the same time (before you ask, we truly do not know when it’s sent). You have 2 minutes to open the app and take your BeReal. A BeReal isn’t just a photo. It uses front and back cameras to capture your surroundings.”
It adds, “You can retake your BeReal as many times as you want before posting. Just keep an eye on the timer. Missed the two-minute window? It happens! After receiving the notification, you can post a BeReal anytime, but your friends will know you posted late.”
But Kate claims that a picture revealing her naked derrière somehow made its way onto the app without her knowledge—until a friend checked to ask, literally, “Is that your a** on BeReal?”
“BeReal just posted a nude of me for everyone to see,” Kate begins. “I didn’t even use BeReal today.”
After explaining the discovery and her dismay over it, she claims, “I literally deleted it, obviously, and I deleted the whole app.”
She also granted, however, that the photo was flattering, going as far as to describe what was captured on-screen as “juicy.” However, she would have preferred that the photo not be published on a social media app.
@getittogetherkate brb going into hiding #bereal ♬ original sound – Kate
The issue might be a new feature that BeReal is rolling out if a subreddit dedicated to the app is to be believed. According to the moderator there, “BeReal is testing another new feature! For the people who don’t know, BeReal is currently testing ‘Roulette.'”
They go on to say the beta mode of the app “will shuffle through your designated camera roll that will pick out any photo that you have and will post it.”
One commenter brought this up to Kate, who wasn’t sure Roulette was to blame. “It wasn’t but I wish it was,” she posited. “I have some better ones in my camera roll.”
Other commenters to Kate’s video shared her horror.
“I have officially deleted BeReal in fear that this would happen to me,” one said.
Kate responded to that with, “No because my friends pressured me into redownloading it literally last week I’m SICK.”
Another recalled, “Girl there use to be this thing called photobucket and I didn’t know that my photos were automatically synced and EVERY SINGLE photo I took was automatically uploaded online…. I didn’t know for 1 yr.”
Kate replied, “Screaming you win.”
Finally, one said, “I’m friends with my mom on BeReal,” adding, “I would die.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to both Kate and BeReal via email.
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