Meta says a new Instagram feature will allow users to set up photos at intervals. However, critics are already saying the tool is suspiciously like BeReal, a controversial but increasingly popular social media app. Known as IG Candid, a leak of the feature by leaker Alessandro Paluzzi highlights the similarities.
In a screenshot found by Paluzzi, Meta offers the following description of how the tool functions:
“Add other’s IG Candid to your story tray. And every day at a different time, get a notification to capture and share a Photo in 2 Minutes,” the screenshot reads.
BeReal has been growing in popularity in recent weeks, while also drawing plenty of negativity. It works by sending a notification to users at random intervals during the day, giving them two minutes to take a rear and selfie photo at the same time.
BeReal
The makers of the app say it is supposed to encourage sharing of authentic moments during someone’s day. In other words, to move away from the stylized and carefully taken images most people put out on social media. BeReal is now the number 1 free app in Apple’s iOS App Store.
Many critics say BeReal is a huge intrusion on privacy. Not least because it wouldn’t take long for someone to create a fairly accurate profile of your routine.
Over the years, plenty of social media booms have come and gone, and it seems BeReal could be the latest. Instead of waiting for the explosion, it seems Meta wants to be riding the wave and is already copying BeReal with the IG Candid feature. The company told The Verge the feature does exist and it is in a prototype.
“This feature is an internal prototype, and not testing externally,” said Meta spokesperson Christine Pai.
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