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French social media app BeReal thwarts fussy curation by prompting users to post what they’re actually doing at a random time each day. Users have two minutes to snap both a selfie and a photo of what’s in front of them, whether they’re frying an egg or toiling over spreadsheets. The banality lends a certain intimacy that’s lacking on other platforms—and the concept has resonated. After raising a $36.6-million Series A round led by the influential VC firm Andreessen Horowitz last year, BeReal hit the top spot on the App Store’s free downloads list this summer.
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