The Maslow's hierarchy of social media

Every audience has a level and you need to stoop to / rise to that, to make content for them.

I've a mental model of levelling social media folks by enlightenment

• L0: believe in BeerBiceps

• L1: BeerBiceps crazy, but Warikoo

• L2: Warikoo cringe, but Balajis

• L3: Balaji weird, but Naval

• L4: Naval too meta, but God

• L5: fully self aware

This is a politically bipartisan list. (Balaji a bit libertarian, but anyway) What people think of Elon Musk or Trump or Modi or Bernie Sanders doesn't matter, on where they are on this ladder.

The ultimate zen comes from internalising that anything you say, write, or demonstrate over a fleeting piece of 240 characters over a digital screen will not move anyone from and Level to another. (Neither up nor down).

Also like Software Engineering career ladders, every level has its own set of expectations and skill set and difficulty levels.

Once properly classified, you can ration your efforts of articulation.

L4 articulation efforts are wasted on L0, L1 people.

The biggest benefit though is, if you do business, you have to sell. And knowing how to sell to which TG is an invaluable skill

Here's what sells at each level

• L0: fascination / mystery

• L1: aspiration

• L2: liberty

• L3: enlightenment

• L4: spirituality

• L5: only logic / real needs

Once you have levelled people properly, you know how to make content for each level.

• L0: bro, do you know <omg wow incredible fact>?

• L1: this is how you'll make money...

• L2: frustrated with the system?

• L3: don't scratch surface, want deeper meaning?

• L4: why do we even exist?

I think in a way, what I am postulating is that Maslow's hierarchy also needs a small update for digital world

This is the original simplified Maslow's pyramid of needs

In the digital/media/content sphere ofcourse there is no concept of delivering on physiological needs

The set of people (as mapped out in Maslow's pyramid) if you map into digital content / social media world, you'll find their needs *from this online world* are a little different at least at lower rungs of the pyramid

Fin.