My exposure to the internet is longer than my exposure to the trimedia (Television, Radio and Print). I admit that my day can’t be concluded without drinking some cyber juice. True, I am slowly becoming dependent to it. Okay, that was an understatement. I think I am dependent to it. Vanity aside, I believe that I am conscious about my self-development and journey to self-actualization. Can I really self-actualize with the internet? Is the internet already a necessity? After reading Christopher Locke’s Internet Apocalypso, I realized how the statement “The internet is powerful” is becoming outdated and there’s an urgent need to find a new adjective that’s more powerful than powerful. Let’s analyze if this kind of power can make it a necessity, can make it a tool for self-actualization.

Physiological. Of course, we cannot get food and water from the internet—but we can order some using the internet, and other products as well. The World Wide Web has transformed itself into a billion-dollar-and-counting industry. It is a marketplace that is ventured by large corporations–some of them left the tangible world for a perceived better performance in the cyberspace. Even frustrated entrepreneurs can put up their garage sale using Multiply or eBay. Organizations are now trying to fill our hunger and thirst (even our lust) using the internet. On this criterion, can man live with internet alone? I am tempted to say Yes but I believe that the internet is not mature enough to replace traditional human practices when buying necessities. Humans are impatient; Humans would still prefer to buy using the real-time scheme.

Safety.  Can we feel safe using the internet? Can we find the security of body, employment, resources, morality, our family and health using the internet? In the truest sense of the word “safety”, I don’t think so. But, the industries of health and insurance already found their niche on the cyberspace. Online banking and health insurance enrolment, anyone? Organizations are already trying their best to connect with their stakeholders so they could feel a sense of guarantee—which is a faction of safety.

Socialization. At this level of the hierarchy, I think the internet can almost satisfy this need. From online profiles to blogs and micro-blogs and from online conferences to themed online forums, the internet gives us a presence that never sleeps and never gets tired of being a socialite. We can connect to our families, we can even make a family. So can humans actually feel love and belonging using the God-like internet? Yes. But as the principle of economics Men-have-unlimited-wants says, we want more—we want the real thing. What the internet does are two things: First, it could be a substitute (I can’t be there so let’s chat instead) or it could be a premise (Let’s chat and I can be there). Apart from individuals, companies are using the internet to socialize with their clients and perspective clients. Apparently, even organizations need it.

Esteem.  I believe that using the internet has boosted my ego—honestly. A lot of people appreciated what I blog about and my blog in general. Moreover, I met people who actually like me (in the physical appearance criterion). Okay, I shouldn’t have said that. Humor’s in the internet too, haha. Anyway, since the internet enables socialization, people can actually easily relate to one another—you would suddenly know that, somewhere in this lonely planet, you have someone like you, you have someone who likes you. Definitely, you are not alone.

Self-actualization. Now, here we are—Can we really self-actualize using the internet? I know this sounds so cheesy (and weird to some extent) but I chose this theme because Locke’s Internet Apocalypso has painted a complex picture of the internet that’s so powerful, it can be the Alpha and the Omega of humanity. Though I concede to the fact that the internet is really powerful (Where’s my new adjective?), I think people and organizations alike don’t use it for an end to itself. It is an accessory, sometimes more powerful than the primary. The point is, people and institutions need to do a complementary action to suffice their needs. More importantly, they need to strategize to maximize internet’s benefits and minimize difficulties. The internet, after all, is just a tool. Some human touch is needed to make it roll.

Time to go, I still need to do a Self-Actualization Plan. :)

You can read Christopher Locke’s Internet Apocalypso here.