Web Design
The Rise of BeReal
Researched, designed and programmed a responsive webpage, exploring the importance of authenticity in social media, and the rise of BeReal and Instagram Stories.
Design Brief
The project involves telling a story using data related to social media, focusing on communities, trends, polarisation, or phenomena like misinformation or algorithmic personalisation. You can explore datasets about social media usage, specific events, or communities. The final output will be an interactive web visualisation, presented like online data journalism, with visualisations supporting the story.
Solution
Behind the facade of perfectly curated personas on social media, there is a growing movement of realness. In a time of technological advances, this is increasingly relevant as young adults realise the humanity of imperfection (Berryman et al., 2017). With the rise of BeReal and Instagram stories, being authentic is easier. But in the end, it’s up to you.
Data Processing & Insights
My insights surround the significance of connection, privacy and authenticity on social media.
My gender filter table revealed the notable value of self-presentation for females on Instagram. My ‘social media’ filter table showed large user growth among both BeReal and Instagram, showcasing popularity.
By calculating the percentage of self-presenting posts within a 9-post sample, for over 1000 users, I extrapolated to estimate their overall number among all posts - further supporting the female emphasis.
Converting percentages to values, based on the total number of respondents, highlighted that while users value authenticity on BeReal, there is also a high need for multiple takes.
Visualisation Narrative
Social media’s appeal lies in connecting with loved ones, and there's a growing demand for authenticity. Platforms like Instagram show a shift towards genuine self-expression, with many users opting for private accounts to share unfiltered moments. The rise of BeReal reflects this movement, prioritising raw, real content over curated posts. While there’s pressure to curate, platforms like Instagram Stories and BeReal highlight the increasing desire for honest connections. This marks a shift in social media, where the value of authenticity is strongly rising.
Chart Mockups
Below are a series of draft chart mockups I created in Excel from my data processing, which were the basis of the final charts in my webpage.
Usability Testing
I conducted usability testing with 10 users to assess the webpage's learnability and effectiveness. Users, unfamiliar with the content, navigated the page and provided feedback through think-aloud testing, along with ratings on ease of learning and feature effectiveness.
