Quinn Edmonds
2/13/25
CYSE201S
Professor Yalpi
Week 4
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs starts with basic survival needs. In cyberspace a lot of basic
needs people want is entertainment as we wont die without our computers. I n my personal
experience I have the browser Opera GX which blocks ads on Youtube, but Youtube then
blocked the site from whoever had ad blockers causing me to be unable to watch my favorite
videos. So, I was forced to turn off my ad blocked due to my personal basic need of
entertainment in cyberspace.
I know safety needs are important as my dad is an IT specialist and I grew up learning
how to navigate the web with an expert essentially, so I was always aware of avoiding links and
downloads and to be very careful. This necessarily isn’t my experience, but my girlfriend’s pc
got a virus, and I helped her delete it off her computer due to my skills and helped teach her the
importance of cybersecurity to defend your files. Since then, she has had no more issue therefore
my advice helped her understand the second from bottom step of the pyramid. This experience
helps me understand the safety needs with greater extent and helps my safety.
This leads me into the intimate needs, I text my girlfriend on Instagram only which is
known to have scammers and hackers which is a bit scary, but I learned by watching people I
know being hacked and asked about their experience, which taught me how to avoid it.

Whenever I see a scam, I make sure to warm my friend and girlfriend because they all love using
Instagram to communicate with friends/me. This texting culture we live in satisfies my need for
communication with friends and loved ones even though my girlfriend is miles and miles away.
Which is more reason security needs to come before texting.
I get esteem needs whenever I make a post online and it gets a few likes, or when I can
post my graduation. Cyberspace is good for sharing accomplishments as you can show everyone
on the internet when you post. It helps people feel a little more confident in themselves. In a
similar vein, Instagram recommends random accounts to people some with 1 or 2 likes on some
video of them singing or drawing, so I make sure to always leave a like to help them feel better
about themselves not only making them happy but makes me happy I can support another
person.
Finally, my self-actualization I can get from gaming, when I’m gaming nothing around
me can make me anxious or bother me, I can enter a flow state of sorts. I use it to calm down or
get energy out at night. I think I use the internet in a very beneficial way almost every day and
genuinely improve my life from the fun things I get to do online. We as people are very
integrated with cyberspace, and it is not necessarily a bad thing. I feel good about myself due to
my skill in gaming and I hope to continue enjoying it as long as possible.
This assignment was fun thinking about the pyramid in a cyber sense, I never realized
how much it applies to what I do day to day.