How I became a local guide
It’s been more than two years since I got obsessed with Google Maps’ your contributions. I was travelling in Africa (Kenya, Tanzania), when I first realized importance of reviews on maps. I was going to different lodges and hotels and the reviews played a huge role in picking my destinations. The photo from above is one of my most favourite photos I took in my life and it was from that trip. After that I visited Beirut, Lebanon and was unhappy about a few things there and decided to write my fist reviews and share photos. When I got my first badges, I got really into it and started reviewing places I knew and answering lots of questions.
When I got back to Georgia I started using my app every day and was kind of shocked when I discovered that there were lots and lots of places missing on maps, also there were lots of stupid places marked there, which would misguide people who are really looking for something in those locations. I felt how some of my contributions helped people.
For example oddly for me, toy stores became my most popular contributions, people are constantly looking recommendations for good toy stores in Tbilisi. Then of course you can never avoid reviewing food places.
What I love about being local guide
I want to share a few examples, which makes me feel excited about being a local guide. Most of them just prove that it really can change lives of people to better:
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There was some fast food spot near our office we used to go to. We got poisoned a few times, I wrote the review reflecting our experience. The place got shut down for not following basic hygiene standards very soon. Instead of it now there is a new place where you can buy some healthy snacks.
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I met a friend once, who told me that he went to one of the small villages I recently visited before him. He said there were two restaurants there. Both had my reviews, one - good, one - bad. He dicided not to believe me and went to the one with the bad review and got the same bad experience as me. So the next day he went to the one with the good review and regretted that he didn’t believe me in the first place. And after that he said he always reads my reviews if they are there, which was funny and exciting to hear at the same time.
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Recently a woman contacted me on Facebook saying she had found my reviews on Lake Naivasha and that she was looking for people who recently visited this place, because she is doing a research about pollution of the lake and she was collecting some evidence from people there and now I am cooperating with her.
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The clinic I usually go to recently changed building and moved to a new place. And the building has two entrances, the one where you can go by car and the one for pedestrians. The one for pedestrians is compltely impossible for wheelchairs to get in, even with a help of other people. Not only me but a lot of people shamed the clinic for this and it hasn’t been solved yet, but I know that they are working to improve the entrance already.
My voice is heard
Another thing I am always exciting about is that I feel like every time I send the feedback about the app, my voice is heard. For example, one of my dreams was while scrolling though your contributed photos, if you’d click one of them and go back, it would take you to the top again. Now you go back to the spot you were. It’s a tiny thing, but I am happy it was changed. I keep reporting problems that occur while using my Maps apps and things change to the best with the each update I get.
Being noticed
I am excited each time someone puts like on my reviews, or I get some kind of feedback from other people and on my last birthday, which was on 27 December, I got a this amazing notification, which I celebrated on Facebook as a perfect birhtday gift. Now the number is more than at least one million and each time I get amazed of how many people see my contributions.
Who I am
Probably I had to start with it, but I am not good at describing myself, so I left it for the end. I am a journalist born in Tbilisi, Georgia. I’ve been working as a journalist for ten years. Right now I run my own media outlet, together with my colleague and we are really proud of it. Apart from being a journalist I am a hobbyist photographer. I always take photos no matter where I am, even if I am not working. I live with a fat fluffy orange furball persian cat called willie in the center of the city. If you are in Tbilisi and looking for recommendations, keep in touch. I posted a whole separate post about my recommedations about Tbilisi as well.
