Copy>Paste - Is TikTok's new feature just a BeReal rip off? Your Daily Dose of Digital - 29/09/22

Some of you may already have heard of, or even be using, BeReal - the latest in a string of attempts to take market share amongst social media apps, which prompts all users to snap what they're doing "right now", a moment in their life where they could be doing anything from the mundane to the incredible.

Well, TikTok seems to like this concept, and in an effort to stave off any competition for its attention dominance, has seemingly replicated the functionality quickly and at unfathomable scale. And so, the continuation of social platforms essentially copying eachothers' ideas continues.

BeReal essentially invites users to take a front and back camera photo at a random time every day, designed to "capture a more authentic picture of what our friends are doing all day". Snapchat and Instagram have already launched front and back camera features, and Instagram is rumoured to be developing its own time-based feature. It's fair to say that TikTok beat the competition by being the first app to just outright copy and paste BeReal into its platform.

TikTok explained TikTok Now in their blog: “TikTok Now invites you and your friends to capture what you’re doing in the moment using your device’s front and back camera. You’ll receive a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or a static photo to easily share what you’re up to.”

As you can see in the screengrabs above, the call to action / notification is also an attempt at copying BeReal's "Time to BeReal" - somehow, I am not convinced "Time to Now" really works, but I am sure that won't affect engagement with the new addition to the world's leading social platform.

The new format is available in the US at the moment, with 'Now' taking up some prime navigation real estate in the menu bar at the bottom of the app, and is set to be rolled out to other territories if these tests prove successful.

This is yet another in a string of updates to social platforms cherry-picking features and functionality from fellow apps, blurring the lines once again between their USPs. What do you think about social apps' tendencies to clone eachother? Will you BeReal with TikTok Now? Let me know in the comments.