Throughout recent years, young people have flipped between the newest trending apps. Although some users believe they are fun for a while, they can quickly become irrelevant and lose traction just as fast as they gained it.
Due to today’s digital age, new apps are developed often and can rapidly become “trendy.” For example, throughout the summer of 2022, BeReal was a popular form of media where users were alerted daily to post a picture of their current activity.
Some believed BeReal became popular because of its unique message of “being real” on social media, or posting unfiltered pictures. Users were able to post pictures and react to their friends’ pictures at the same time. However, once summer had ended and users no longer had daily events to post, the app’s popularity dwindled. What is it that makes apps like BeReal and Lapse popular for a little while and then nonexistent?
Communications High School students believe that while these apps are short lived, they have some entertainment value. Junior Hannah Smolinski of Little Silver enjoyed the social features of the apps.
“I liked that I could see what everyone was doing. I didn’t particularly care for people seeing what I was doing,” Smolinski said.“But, I got to show my dog sometimes, and I got to see other people’s dogs.”
Freshman Shea Burkhardt of Monmouth Beach appreciated these platforms, but quickly lost interest.
“I had the apps Lapse, Gas, and Bereal. I liked how fun it was to share my life. I deleted it after a while because I got bored,” Burkhardt said.
When it came to these apps, people were heavily influenced upon whether they were in trend or not. When the apps were popular, many enjoyed seeing what their friends were up to. As the apps’ popularity started to wane, the fun seemed to fade with it. Many CHS students admitted they have deleted BeReal since its rise to fame, like Freshman Eric Wazeka of Howell.
“Over time, people just stopped putting effort into it. It just became really boring and there wasn’t a point to it.”
Many people felt as if posting on apps like BeReal and Lapse was weird and uncool as they became less popular. Young people are easily influenced by others to download and participate in social media. Certain apps such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat have seemed to last much longer than apps like Lapse, Gas and BeReal. These forms of media seem to follow the same pattern of gaining a lot of attention quickly and, then fizzling out when users lose interest. Only time will tell what the next quick app is and if it has the power to stay permanent.
