Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has 5 levels to it, being the first level is physiological needs which consist of basic needs like food, water, warmth, and rest. The second level is safety needs which consist of security, and safety, this is also considered a basic need. The third level is belongingness and love needs, which consist of an intimate relationship and friends, this is a psychological need. The fourth level is esteem needs, which include privilege and the feeling of accomplishment, this would be also a psychological need. The last level would be self-actualization where it’s achieving one’s full potential, including creative activities, this is a self-fulfillment need.

Even though this is a hierarchy of human needs this can also align with technology. In this day of age, humans need technology in their daily lives which can include electronics, Wi-Fi, etc. When it comes to the first level of “physiological needs” for me with technology it would be my phone. This relates to this need because phones are important, they’re used for contacting other people, searching the web, social media, and other apps that can be important to an individual. If I ever lost my phone, I would start to get very anxious because I wouldn’t be able to call people and people wouldn’t be able to call me.

The next level would be safety needs, and this would be me putting my important information into a website or just having an account. An example would be my college account, when I try to log into my account there is a two-authentication factor called “Duo Mobile” which checks and makes sure I’m the one that is accessing my account. This gives a base of security to make sure no one else can access my account except for me. The next level which is belongingness and love needs can center around me being on social media. The way social media can relate to this level in the hierarchy is followers, having a lot of followers on social media can give me a sense of belonging. For example, my Snapchat score is high, and I have a lot of friends, which gives me a sense of belonging in that specific social media community.

The fourth level which is esteem needs can be influenced by social media. You can be scrolling on a social media app and stumbled on a post about weight depending on the post it can boost that person’s self-esteem positively or negatively. I stumbled upon a post on TikTok about a specific dance and I was able to do it correctly, this boosted my self-esteem positively because I know how to do the dance correctly and possibly can do other dances. The last level would be self-actualization which can be based on dreams and goals, one of my goals save up enough money to buy a Wi-Fi extender to boost the internet speed a little bit more and I achieve my goal by buying it. In conclusion, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can relate to the digital world strongly.