Radical Bite: CoStar App is The Fault With Our Stars

Rashida Renae self describes as a cosmic witch that never misses a chance to fall in love with the beauty of the moon. If you appreciate this content, consider donating to Rashida's charity of choice NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

If you love astrology and have a smart phone, there’s a good chance you either have the CoStar app on your phone, or at least seen a meme or two about being dragged by the app. Despite its aesthetically pleasing minimalist design, CoStar has quickly earned a reputation for being one of the most problematic astrology apps on the market.

A Snapshot of the Night Sky

Astrology is the language of the stars and an important tool for self-discovery. In astrology, your natal birth chart is a snapshot of the night sky that depicts where each planet (and some notable asteroids!) were when you drew your first breath. In addition to the planets themselves, their respective house location and aspects are also important pieces to the puzzle.

It can be intimidating for a person that is new to astrology but eager to understand themselves to navigate this foreign language of house placements, planetary aspects and the overall meaning of that energy and how it plays out in everyday life.

Knight in Shining Minimalist Armor

CoStar emerged as a solution for astrology newbies and long-time enthusiasts, alike.

With its trendy minimalist design and rectangular chart form, it neatly breaks down planets and houses including a blurb of what that particular astrology house placement means for you. One feature, while initially endearing, quickly revealed itself problematic—the message notifications that CoStar sends, daily.

Layers of Harm

The daily message notifications are reportedly curated based on a mix of planetary transits and to serve as a “head’s up” or “vibe check” for users. The daily messages range from things such as “be someone’s service animal” to “you talk about other people because you don’t have your own life.”

Not only are these messages harsh, for members of marginalized communities as well as people that use astrology as a means of self-care these messages can be both alarming and harmful. Creators of the app have said that they troll users and send them negative messages even when they have favorable planetary aspects like trines and sextiles. This is particularly harmful to users with anxiety or panic disorders that are likely to catastrophize.

Over the summer, during the height of Black Lives Matter protests across the country, instead of using its knowledge of astrology to provide insight into the planetary energy shift that may have impacted the global movement, CoStar instead decided to make a mockery of the movement.

CoStar turned low-vibrational astrological interpretations into a meme of what each zodiac sign would do at a demonstration, ranging from Libra’s being present with multiple lovers and Scorpio’s wearing sunglasses to shield emotions.

Considering that there are plenty of marginalized communities that seek out astrology as a means of self-discovery and self-care, this reductionist meme is a slap in the face, making light of police brutality, systemic oppression and extrajudicial murders for the sole purpose of going viral and having an edgy take.

With apps like CoStar unabashedly causing harm, one may ask, do you even need to know your Chiron placement?