Lapse is the latest in a long line of failures to make social media authentic. Spoiler alert: it’s never going to happen.

Lapse, which exploded in popularity in September after it was rereleased in June, allows users to snap 36 photos a day that develop in a virtual “darkroom” before becoming viewable. The user can then share the disposable-camera-style photos with friends or archive them. Emulating BeReal, the internet darling that skyrocketed to social media dominance in 2022, Lapse advertises an authentic experience and tritely proclaims its focus on “friends not followers.”

While the app is no longer invite-only, it previously required a link to join. New users were forced to send a link to five non-users before creating an account. The invitation requirement is gimmicky; it relies on curiosity and exclusivity. Some online users compared it to a “pyramid scheme.” After the forced invitations, the user must send a friend request to at least eight other users before even seeing the app’s main interface. The app auto-selects 100 people for the user to request; to undo the selection, the user must click a small button and choose their own friends. Lapse’s encouragement to add 100 people drips with irony — so much for only connecting with friends. 

Social media and authenticity are paradoxical. BeReal positioned itself as a knight in shining armor, rescuing people who were sick of the deceiving content on apps like Instagram. Although BeReal sends a daily notification telling users to post, many began ignoring the alert and choosing to post whenever they took part in a “cool” activity, like attending a concert. If a user posts late, all their friends receive a notification highlighting their failure, suggesting they care too much about looking cool. On the other hand, posting on time might mean exposing a low point. The app didn’t last — monthly active users dropped from 73.5 million in Aug. 2022  to 25 million in Nov. 2023 according to Business of Apps. 

While BeReal is too real, the “Make Instagram casual again” movement, which began appearing on TikTok in 2020, is a calculated performance masked in authenticity. TikTok videos boast Instagram feeds featuring artfully selected pictures: a fancy dinner, a simple selfie, a shot of stacked gold necklaces. While the profiles appear effortless, they’re anything but. In fact, the “casual Instagram” concept creates pressure to prepare aesthetic posts even more often. It postulates that life should be a long, continuous highlight reel that’s constantly documented for hundreds of followers. Making Instagram “casual” is the very opposite of a liberation from social media expectations; instead, it ties users to the digital world even more. More pictures and more posts mean more time on the app, benefitting Instagram itself.

There will never be an app built off of genuine authenticity that has staying power. Social media is fake, and encouraging frequent posts the way Lapse does only pushes users to work harder to curate an idealistic image. The best way to find “friends not followers” isn’t going on your phone; it’s going outside.

This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on November 30, 2023.