Iceman's Hierarchy of Social Media

[icemanbaldy]

Many who are familiar with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs will appreciate my application of his theory of personality and human needs to social media. At a basic survival level are Presence needs and at the self-actualized end of the hierarchy are social optimization needs where a fully functioning social media user is effectively coordinating his or her social media presence toward achieving a larger networking vision.

1. Presence

Blog, Website, Social Network Profile--you have to exist in some form or fashion. You choose the media and the extent to which you want to establish a social presence but you'll have to have an outlet for your virtual voice. You can decide later if you want your voice to be public or private but the very nature of social media means that you will share your voice with a larger community at some point.

2. Structure

The tools you use to establish your presence will have a lot to do with how comfortable you are in providing updated content. Not all social media platforms are created equal and you have a full range of options available. You can completely code your site from scratch or your can use a variety of easy-to-use graphical interfaces that integrate customizable templates that do the coding for you in the background. It's important that you choose tools with orderly and stable processes for interaction and expression in addition to a proper degree of ease and functionality

3. Community

Your social media platform allows you to interact with others who are using the platform or who are members of the network. You choose how you want to connect with others via terms and conditions that you specify. As your comfort level increases through using a stable and orderly platform and the tools available for customization and connection with others, you will probably seek some level of involvement within the community. Many people start by simply observing the action that is taking place and that's Ok.

4. Contribution

After a while, you may find that observation of the action is not enough--you may desire to make a greater and more visible contribution as you become aware of how you can help others through your experiences or expertise. You may seek a sense of contribution and respect in the community through posting content or leaving comments or both. Receiving thanks from others who value your assistance and the content that you provide is a benefit and a reward for being an active community member. You may be asked by others to make contributions to their sites or on other networks while your expertise continues to grow and develop.

5. Social Optimization

Achieving an understanding of how social media can assist you in meeting your goals and connecting with people in a way that furthers your personal vision and mission is the highest level of social media use. Social optimization needs drive the individual to fully coordinate his or her growing social presence toward meeting their personal or business goals. Each of your social media activities is related and connected to another and your content is blended across communities. Social media mastery at this level may prompt you to share what you've learned with others.