Instagram is internally testing Candid Challenges, a BeReal-like feature that gives users two minutes to take and share a photo at a different time each day
Instagram is testing a new feature called Candid Challenges, which bears a striking resemblance to BeReal, a photo sharing app popular among …
The subsequent coverage shows the format spreading beyond Instagram: TikTok launched Now with daily dual-camera prompts, while Instagram later tested Candid Stories alongside friend-focused Notes. Together, those moves make Candid Challenges an early step in a broader contest for more intimate, lower-production social sharing.
First-order effects
Instagram gains a testable daily-sharing mechanic that can keep photo posting inside its existing app rather than leaving that behavior to BeReal.
BeReal faces a larger incumbent reproducing both the time constraint and the capture format that distinguish its product.
Second-order effects
TikTok’s Now launch shows that BeReal-like prompts became a competitive feature category, pressuring BeReal to defend differentiation beyond dual-camera posting.
Instagram’s friend-oriented Notes and Candid Stories tests position timed sharing alongside private social interactions, rather than as a standalone photo feed.
Third-order effects
If major platforms keep absorbing narrow social formats, product differentiation shifts from a single interaction mechanic toward the community norms and usage limits that incumbents cannot as easily reproduce.
The pattern strengthens platform gatekeeper leverage: established networks can test emerging behaviors with audiences and distribution already in place.
The trend: Large social platforms are turning the spontaneous, low-production sharing model popularized by BeReal into an in-app feature layer rather than ceding it to standalone apps.
Instagram is working on IG Candid Challenges, a feature inspired by @BeReal_App 👀 ℹ️ Add other's IG Candid to your story tray. And everyday at a different time, get a notification to capture and share a Photo in 2 Minutes.
I would just like to see pictures from people I ACTUALLY care about in an order vaguely consistent with horological accuracy I just want the OPTION of that https://twitter.com/...
At this point, being copied by Instagram is the ultimate validation data point for any new-ish social media app. If you can't create relevance, you copy it. https://twitter.com/...
Everyone mad that Instagram is copying BeReal with “Candid Challenges”...remember that BeReal copied FrontBack's photo format from 2013. Social is a flat circle. https://twitter.com/...
One of the consequences of “my startup is actually just a feature” is that it helps consolidate the tech industry while appearing to create or at least culture competition. https://twitter.com/...
@FbBagholder I've said this before; Meta's real advantage is distribution (FB+IG+WhatsApp). Its competitors have to acquire new customers and build infra with skyrocketing cost for engineers. It's not as risky as perceived by most investors.
An @instagram spokesperson confirmed to @engadget that the feature is an internal prototype, but declined to provide additional details 👇 https://twitter.com/...
Can someone tell me if literally anyone on Instagram's product team has an original thought because this is ridiculous. Meta is on a path to become Yahoo. https://twitter.com/...