We tell ourselves stories in order to live
The myth of mundanity content
To BeReal or not to BeReal, that is the question. It might have won Apple’s ‘App of the Year’ for 2022, but will BeReal even still exist by the end of 2023?
If you’re unfamiliar, BeReal is a French photo-sharing app. You get a notification once a day to “be real” and take a photo of what you’re doing, while your front camera also takes a photo of you and you can only see your friends’ photos after you’ve posted. It was created in 2020 but went viral in early 2022 largely due to its popularity with Gen Z, but also because of its ‘authenticity’ in capturing a snapshot of your day. It stands in opposition to the social media fatigue we experience after interacting with too much content for extended lengths of time on the likes of Instagram.
A Business of Apps report looked at data from the app intelligence firm Apptopia to suggest that interest in BeReal may have already peaked. BeReal was estimated to have reached 20 million daily active users in October 2022 but that’s now almost halved to 10.4 million, a drop of 48% in less than six months. Monthly downloads also fell from 12 million in September 2022 to 3.3 million in January 2023.
Problem is, BeReal isn’t as real as it claims to be. You can retake photos and still post late even after the daily notification goes off. The normality you’re promised to find is too entrenched in the foundations laid by the curated and unattainable content of Instagram many moons ago. Social media from the surface might appear to be moving towards more ad hoc/ honest and less curated/ perfected, but underneath the facade of new apps and features is the dirty truth. Mundanity content is a myth.
A few months ago, I went to a book club hosted by Oenone where we spoke about Joan Didion’s The White Album. Published in 1979, The White Album is a collection of essays written by Didion in various magazines across the late 60s and early 70s. She searches for true connection during a time of political chaos, turmoil and paranoia in California. In the aftermath of the Manson cult and murders, she tries to find a sense of belonging in a seemingly fucked up world.
Didion was a trailblazer within New Journalism. A movement characterised by subjective styles of writing, giving readers more opinionated and individual perspectives compared to more traditional reporting. Despite this type of ‘personal content’ being groundbreaking in its time, one main line of feedback in our book club was that very few of her essays revealed details about her. We wanted to be let into her life. Not just a little glimpse, we wanted a full telescopic 360-degree view. Fifty years on, we still crave opinion pieces, that much is clear. But now we want to be inundated with information and details about the creator’s life. In a social media age, we expect this of people as a given and I don’t feel like that’s going to change any time soon. This is the reason BeReal is losing people’s interest.
In a hyper-consumerist and over-exposed world of limitless scrolling our attention spans can’t keep up. It’s become impossible to believe the nuances of daily life (warts and all) could ever be enough. As much as we can trick ourselves into believing content is coming back around to untouched, unfiltered and come-as-you-are in actuality, the BeReal, vlogging and influencer culture aesthetic is all smoke and mirrors. It’s curated content repackaged and resold to us in a more alarming way.
Content today is characterised by oversharing through constant filming, photos and “building connections” with viewers in conversational-style videos or captions. Posts are still planned with precision and heavily edited. All served up with a big side order of voyeurism into the meticulous ‘day in the life’ routines of someone else. A slippery slope for us to fall down the rabbit hole and instead of Wonderland find “evidence” of our inferiority, failure and lack of success. Comparison culture is already rife for consumers of social media, but it’s even more dangerous when we indulge in “mundanity content” at face value.
Joan Didion understood the impermanence of being human. Of the granularities that trudging through day-to-day life beholds. Her essays on dams, waterways and motorways we dismissed as boring and banal at the book club. Now I see it. Didion was looking for solid ground. Evidence of social progression and moving forward. Something tangible and sturdy. Something with longevity in times of uncertainty. Something that would outlive her and remind her of her own mortality.
Perhaps BeReal will be the tipping point. The ultimatum for the social media paradox we’re approaching. Apps and features that have tried to dilute heavily curated and posed everyday content haven’t had the desired effect of making us feel less fatigued and more connected. It’s interesting to think about where we go from here.
To feel inspired by objects of functionality, practicality or duty is today, beyond belief. One in four young Americans wants a career as a social media influencer. What does that tell us about the things the next generation deems important and the type of world they desire to build for themselves?
Fulfilment with mundanity is no longer just undesirable - it’s at risk of becoming totally extinct.
In this day an age of endless side hustles, where it seems we are all programmed to speak an audience and constantly asked how we can become "the best version of ourselves", fulfilment with mundanity seems to me, the most desirable thing - and also one quite rebellious! Loved your post Mary 💗