BeReal

I spent the past week with my teenage nephew and niece, and not only do I love the time together because I adore them, but I also love that they introduce me to what is hip / new / relevant in their life. Currently, what is hot in their social circle for social media is not instagram or tiktok, but rather BeReal (and Snapchat). I had never heard of BeReal so it was fascinating to learn more about it.

BeReal sends you a notification at different times each day and asks you to photograph in front and back of you in the 2 minute time limit. There is no way to track the number of friends you have and there are no “likes.”

 

BeReal is a French social media app that was released in 2020. After a couple of years of relative obscurity, it eventually gained popularity rapidly in mid-2022. More specifically, BeReal is a photo-sharing app that allows users to post one photo per day in real time.

An example of my BeReal. I was sitting at the pool with the kids — and it took a shot of what is in front and what I looked like.

You can look at both as the main photograph.

 

Currently, I have two friends (one is the sister of my ex boyfriend who is married to Amy Schumer, and one is my niece — my nephew does not want to be friends with me on this app….). So it is obviously not yet popular with my age group….

 

Another example….And it is important to note that you can only see other people’s daily BeReals if you post one that day yourself, and previous ones disappear from the feed.

And another.

 

Who knows if it will take off as a huge mainstream social media app, but I appreciate the authenticity and realness, and how it is different and unique…..To read more about BeReal, go here and here and here.

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Whitagram App

There are a lot of filters and apps to make photographs better, whether it is to have for your own personal photo collection or to post on social media. Currently, I have seen a lot of people using “Whitagram” which leaves a very artsy and clean white frame around photographs. I recently downloaded the app and used it on some pictures.  I love the look. Download it on the app store on your iphone and use it on any photo in your library. PLEASE NOTE: It is hard to really tell what the end result looks like with the pictures here — as the blog post is a white background and the frames around the photos are white, it is hard to really picture what I am talking about. But trust me, it looks good and chic.

 

SUPER easy to use.

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Instagram Stories

My newest social media go-to is Instagram Stories. For those not very tuned into social media, it is a new-ish feature on Instagram that is similar to Snapchat, and allows you to post pictures and videos throughout your day.  The plus is that the pictures expire after 24 hours, so there is less pressure to make your posts “perfect”, and more of an ability to let you be more impulsive. It allows you to give people a glimpse into your life, without having the posts permanently associated with your name. It is fun and easy, colorful and playful. You can add filters, colors, and text.

 

Silly-ness.

Silly-ness. I like taking pictures that are cute but not AMAZING and then adding some pizzazz and flair with colors and texts. Basically, I love pretending I am a 15 year old girl.

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Pinterest

Addictive? Eye Candy? Inspirational? Organized? Bookmarks?

Pinterest

Pinterest is my newest addiction and internet love/time-waster. Too often, I found myself on Facebook, looking at stupid quotes from people, so in February, one of my best friends convinced me that Pinterest was a better mind-numbing-activity. I took her advice and started pinning. And let me tell you, she was right, Pinterest is AMAZING. More fun than riding a roller coaster. Although it sucks time out of you, it seems more productive and educational, as you piece together ideas/goals/activities/interests for yourself.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is basically a big pretty bulletin board of all your bookmarks on the computer, allowing you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web with *other* people (but it also serves as a reminder for yourself, too –>why I use it). People use pinboards to decorate their homes, shop for new outfits, arrange their recipes, find inspiration in photographs, and more. Not only is it a virtual bulletin board, but it is a social network site that allows you to be inspired and acquainted with NEW ideas and images through your friends. No more searching on epicurious.com, now, I just go to my friends’ pinterest recipe pages and search for recipes that they love that might catch my eye.

boards

This is my homepage. On my homepage, there are a set number of boards that I maintain (you can have as many as you want). You organize the boards by group: i.e., "Gluten-free desserts" or "Fashion Wish List" or "My Favorite Shape." And then WITHIN these boards are your "pins" which are the items that fall into these categories....

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