Few know about Maslow’s unpublished work on social media (for his published work, see the Wikipedia). And most people doubt that he wrote about social media, since it had not yet been invented. But c’mon! Leonardo da Vinci wrote about flying machines and a simple visit via the Wayback Machine can give us all the info we need. Right?
Physiological Needs
At the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy is a category called Physiological Needs. These needs include food, water, shelter, etc. If we apply that to social media, that would be barely surviving on social media. That is, before doing anything else on Instagram, you need to be on Instagram. You’ve seen all those accounts with NO posts and yet 147 followers, right? What is up with that?
Safety Needs
After the first needs are met, a person needs to be safe physically, financially, etc. On the Interwebs, a person needs to feel safe from spam, government shutdowns, and trolls. They need to be able to tweet peaceably without fear of repercussions. They need to be able to talk about their vacation without a meddlesome relative stepping in to insist that they spend all their vacation in some god-forsaken part of Northern California without Internet. Oh, wait–that’s just me. But it still applies!
Social Belonging
According to Maslow, humans need to feel…
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