Courtesy of Ralph Olazo
Social Media is the angel and the devil on all of our shoulders. Everyone who has a phone has had one or more of these apps at one point, either voluntarily or not. I decided to categorize the most popular apps using the Alignment System. Each app is classified as either lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil, neutral good, true neutral, neutral evil, chaotic good, chaotic neutral, or chaotic evil. The apps I chose as my victims are: Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Substack, X/Twitter, Discord, Reddit, and the most basic form of social media, Messages.
The Lawful Apps: The ones that abide by the rules, act correctly, and act under their morals.
Lawful Good: The app that I chose as lawful good is the Messages app. It’s on every phone and is the most common messaging app. In its creation, it is not used or meant to be harmful and is simply a communication pathway. It obeys the rules of your phone, and we all use our messaging apps every single day.
Lawful Neutral: I would classify Pinterest as an app that fits within lawful neutral. The app itself has guidelines that say what you can post, and decency monitors to flag anything inappropriate. The Pinterest community is very artsy and chill, and you won’t find too much drama in the comments. However, there can still be some controversial things found there, such as posts that promote racist ideals or the superiority of one political party.
Lawful Evil: Discord. Discord has rules and guidelines to operate, but ones that seem to be thrown out the window sometimes. It is a messaging app at its core, but unfortunately, one that is often filled with incels and internet trolls. You can find everything from a tame family group chat to a group dedicated to something much more sinister. The only reason I would say that this app leans towards the law is that it has and obeys certain guidelines that cannot be broken.
The Neutral Apps: The ones that do not lean to law or chaos, but instead use their morals solely for good or evil.
Neutral Good: Substack exists mainly as a personal blog/posting site. As someone who is subscribed to some of her favorite authors on the site, I am a fan. I love the fact that authors can release entire books for their fans to love on the platform. I would classify this app as neutral because it started as a new form of social media, focused on bringing its creators closer to their audiences. It is meant to bring joy to people, and in general, it obeys that prerogative for many different kinds of peoples, making it a neutral good.
True Neutral: Instagram can be considered either the best or the worst social media by many, but no matter what, it is what started the whole social media craze. Before Instagram, there were Twitter and Facebook, but nothing specifically targeted towards young people. For being the app that truly started social media as we know it today, I believe it is the true neutral of social media, the originator that all of these apps stem from.
Neutral Evil: Snapchat. This app is highly debated between young and older people alike, with many praising its ability to connect people from across the world, while an equal amount shame its capabilities for exploitation and evil. Despite having strict guidelines, Snapchat can be a place where bullying and harassment happen, but it can also allow friends who are across the globe to talk to each other. The good and bad of the app do not outweigh each other, leaving it in a neutral space; however, due to the potential harm it can cause, it leans towards the evil side.
The Chaotic Apps: Harbingers of chaos, no matter if they try to be good or evil.
Chaotic Good: TikTok earns the title of Chaotic Good. I am a Tiktok fan. I think it’s a fun, engaging way for people across the world to come together for good and bad. However, this app is a harbinger of chaos. TikTok practically invented the term “Doomscroll.” It sucks you in, causing you to scroll for hours, and despite being entertaining, it can bring negativity as well. Tiktok is a lawless app where guidelines are typically ignored. Still, it brings so much happiness that I cannot classify it under anything but good.
Chaotic Neutral: Twitter, also one of the original social media platforms, has brought chaos in the form of peoples’ innermost thoughts in short-form words. Now called X, this app can hold everything from news to harassment, and yet it is beloved and used by many. It exists as a neutral space within the chaos because it does not have a good or bad that outweighs the other, but does bring an air of unorganized, unregulated thoughts.
Chaotic Evil: Reddit is home to all kinds of people, from incels to artists. Reddit brings chaos, as one can post just about anything on the site, and honestly, there is much more evil than good on the app. Want a cookie recipe? Reddit’s got you. Want the secrets to the universe? Reddit most likely has some answers. It would be very easy for a young child to stumble upon something they shouldn’t see, or an incel to take advantage of someone. Reddit is like the older, darker sibling of Twitter, and it shows. Therefore, it gets the worst classification of all, chaotic evil.
