BeReal plans to launch a chat feature, initially testing in Ireland; users will be able to message one-on-one, send a private BeReal, and react with RealMoji
BeReal is working on a chat feature, which will begin with a test among users in Ireland. — At launch, users will be able …
Context & Ripple Effects
Chat arrives a month after BeReal used the UK as its test bed for RealPeople, the curated timeline meant to reverse slowing growth — Ireland now serves the same canary role for a bigger shift: turning a once-a-day broadcast app into a two-way messaging surface. The move also fits a longer pattern of monetization pressure, since sources reported back in 2022 that BeReal was exploring paid features specifically to avoid advertising.
What follows confirms the trajectory this test set up: by December BeReal was planning group sharing via Behind the Scenes and RealGroups, then opened the app to brands and celebrities while reporting 23M DAUs, before Voodoo's €500M acquisition ended with in-feed US ads — exactly the outcome the no-ads stance of 2022 was trying to avoid.
First-order effects
- Irish testers gain one-on-one messaging, private BeReals, and RealMoji reactions — giving the app a reason to be opened outside the daily prompt window and directly extending the utility of an existing engagement hook.
Second-order effects
- Private messaging creates a second, non-public content surface that later features like RealGroups build on, deepening teen retention — significant given Pew's estimate that 13% of US teens already use the app.
Third-order effects
- Each accretion layer — chat, groups, celebrities, ads — trades away the minimalist authenticity that differentiated BeReal, pushing it structurally toward a conventional social network and validating the ad-supported model its founders originally resisted under Voodoo.
The trend: Authenticity-first social apps are progressively absorbing mainstream networking features — messaging, groups, brands, ads — as retention and monetization override their original minimalism.