CURTAIL COAT-TAILING - DELIBERATELY SHARE INFORMATION AND SUPPORT OTHER LOCAL GUIDES

[Ewaade_3A]

This post is not pleasant because it is all about calling out bad behavior; “Coat-tailing or riding on someone’s coat-tail.”

What does it mean to ‘ride someone’s coat-tails’?

To benefit from someone else’s success; to use someone else’s success as a means to achieve one’s own.

This should be a good thing, right? No, it’s not. Why? It is affecting our community, inhibiting the active participation of many Local Guides, dampening their spirits and making them to be inactive on Connect.

The category of Local Guides who engage in ‘Coat-tailing’ are not interested in enriching the life of this Community but are more interested in;

• having their posts featured
• getting a mention from one of the ‘Google Moderators’
• having plenty Kudos
• having plenty comments
• getting on the ‘Trending from Local Guides’ Board
• getting the badges

While all of these mentioned above is good, the methods used in achieving them is what is unpleasant and which we have to eliminate from our Global community.

Until this announcement came from Mchomsky that seemed to shatter the ‘hopes and dreams’ of many people ; Connect was a beehive of activities, with each Local Guide trying to outdo one another in creativity after getting the invite to be a part ofConnect Live 2020.

• Was the excitement borne out of a desire to see the ‘Great America’ for the first time if granted the opportunity? or
• the joy of seeing friends one has only connected with virtually in reality?

Inadvertently, this gave birth to a new culture; Coat-tailing!

• People will go out of their way to create a post just because they see another Local Guide is on the trending list for the same purpose just so they trend too
• People will go the extra mile of over-tagging on posts. I mean; I have opened my notification to find that I was mentioned by someone and I am ‘searching for my name’ on the comment and for the reason the person tagged me
• Quantity over Quality

What am I doing to Curtail Coat-tailing

1. If you tag me on something irrelevant to me, I neither like nor comment
2. If you tag me among a beehive of others, I neither like nor comment
3. If you tag me on something that I have not previously made a Comment on and does not concern me, I neither like nor comment
4. If you like my post, I visit your page, to ‘know you better’ and see how I can spread some ‘Ewa’ in my ‘Ade’ on your beautiful journey as aLocal Guide

If you like my post, I visit your page, to ‘know you better’ and see how I can spread some ‘Ewa’ in my ‘Ade’ on your beautiful journey as a Local Guide

This single exercise has helped in expanding my horizon on Connect. I have come across people on Connect who;

• create such beautiful posts but do not even receive one kudo or a comment because they are not popular
• create such beautiful posts but do not receive any reaction because their post is not written in English language
• have abandoned posting relevant content on Connect and joined the “kudos givers and commenters club”

I know there are many other factors that may be contributing to these ‘dormancy’ of over 699,000 Local Guides, with Coat-tailing being just one of them. Let’s begin with that.

I think Coat-tailing is one behavior we should completely eliminate from our mindset not just for Connect but in our lives.

I want to motivate and encourage us today; each time you think of giving that ‘one more kudo’ to that popular person on Connect, ask yourself; “am I trying to ride this person’s coat-tail?” or do I really ‘like’ what they have shared?

Please curtail coat-tailing so the Local Guides’ community can grow. Go instead and search out Local Guides in need of warmth and support, deliberately share information for a more vibrant community.

We can do this, Yes we can!

Thank you.

[C_T]

I can understand your anguish @Ewaade_3A
However, I have a suspicion. Not many persons visit the How-tos section.
Nevertheless, I use this approach - look for the best, alert when something is undesirable & then ignore the rest.

[Ewaade_3A]

Thank you @C_T

This just happens to be your domain. I am always happy to read from you because your input is always very valuable.

I can not publish this on any other category.

Once at least one person sees it, I am okay

[Ewaade_3A]

I enjoy all the love and attention I get here, that I cannot deny but I am not happy when I visit some of my ‘compatriots’ page and they are all but neglected. I want this love to go round.

Initially, when I meet someone from a place I know someone from, I used to introduce them but now I know so many people, I will end up over tagging

@C_T

[TusharSuradkar]

Nice article @Ewaade_3A and good that you mentioned the moderators.

Did you also notice that most LG will cling to the posts by moderators, not that they are not good, the posts by moderators are awesome, but the point not to be missed is that literally hundreds of LGs, actually every active LG during that day or the week will swarm around with comments and shower the “likes” because they want to be in the good books of Google and the moderators?

Nothing against the moderators, in fact, I love how they go out-of-the-way and respond to most of my articles and provide helpful tips and ask more questions, Great job there!! The point I am highlighting is how LGs respond to such posts on priority ignoring fellow LG’s posts. What do you think?

Another trend that is evident is how people form sort of exclusive-groups and tag a set of close friends and carry out discussion tagging each other where someone else like me who is willing to step in and join will definitely feel alienated or appear like a gate-crasher. I can cite several such posts where the OP has clearly tagged only a handful of people asking for their opinion about an article that was otherwise a decent piece. Thoughts…?

BR,

Tushar

[Ewaade_3A]

“Life is as charming as ever”,**Tushar. @TusharSuradkar **

I have noticed all you have said.

I will like to make a comment about “gate crashing”

Please do not ever feel like a “Gate-crasher”, comment on any post you feel like commenting on and take a walk, when you are done, they will still continue.

The thing is there are several Teams formed outside Connect, we have Whatsapp groups and all.

For example, it will not be unusual to find my friends tagging me or my Teacher; Paul or my mentors from Team India, we have a common ground we share outside this platform (even though it’s borne from here), please do not feel left out, comment, Noone is going to look at you as a Gate-crasher. We are all Local Guides and we are here to support one another

[Ewaade_3A]

I have one more thing to add @TusharSuradkar

Just as it is in reality, some people are not so friendly, they will only talk to people they are comfortable with. In my opinion, how will you attendConnect Live, if you are chosen and all the people you talk to are not

[TusharSuradkar]

Good question @Ewaade_3A I can answer that.

When I am at a gathering of mostly strangers trying their best to socialize, and if one person suddenly stands on a table and calls the attention of just 4 in the crowd that he or she knows in person and asks their opinion about his or her fancy dress or hair-style, obviously I and also everyone else present there are going to keenly listen to what “those” 4 people have got to say unless I am a die-hard fanboy of that person standing on the table. So such a situation is less about me and more about the person standing on the table.

I’d continue to greet and meet everyone else at the party since I have little or no time worrying about just one person who exhibits such behavior.

What would be the ‘ideal way’ or ‘your style’ to react to such a situation?

The point I am driving here is - there are ways to tag people in an article if there really is a need, without sounding like you are addressing only a specific group of users, which I think many LGs are not aware of and end up looking unfriendly to others.

[TusharSuradkar]

Thanks for your previous reply @Ewaade_3A as well.

Only a person as you can say such words because you have a clean, true, big-and-loving heart.

I really don’t want to see this fantastic community of amazing LGs becoming a supergroup of sub-groups interacting among themselves in isolation which sadly is a fact.

There is a discussion group about mechanical CAD software that I am managing on Facebook painstakingly for 5 years now. Without hesitation and any warning or notice I routinely remove people who ask others to contact them in private messaging for answering questions that other members have asked in the group. Taking discussions out of a common group should be a big NO-NO.

BR,

Tushar

[renata1]

Odlična objava @Ewaade_3A . Realna i iskrena. Ja ne govorim engleski (znam 5 riječi, ajde 10 ), sve moje objave su na mom materinjem jeziku (hrvatskom). I sigurna sam da mnogi lokalni vodiči uopće ne obraćaju pažnju, ne otvaraju i ne čitaju objave samo zato što nisu pisane na engleskom . Dakle zanemaruju te lokalne vodiče. Mada postoji odličan, odličan prijevod sa mnogih jezika svijeta. Kad dobijem taj Kuduz bod ili neki pozitivni komentar od nekog LG vodiča, iz zahvalnosti prema tom čovjeku pogledam njegov profil i pokažem zanimanje za njega. Jer taj Kuduz ili komentar su pokazatelji da sam ja nešto dobro ili zanimljivo napravila ovdje na Connectu. Stvaranje nekakvih podgrupa ili podskupina ovdje na Connectu zaista nije u redu. Kao ni “oblačenje” tuđeg kaputa. Ovdje doista ima vrlo, vrlo vrijednih, marljivih i zanimljivih ljudi koji nam boravak na Connectu čine ljepšim i ugodnijim. @Ewaade_3A

[Ewaade_3A]

Tushar! lower your voice, there are ‘too many people on the table you are trying to shake’ and your example drives home the point.

Now, I just found one more friend on Connect.

@TusharSuradkar

I like your ‘fluency’, ‘your accuracy’, ‘your meticulousness’, most of all; ‘your reasoning’, will you be my friend?

[Ewaade_3A]

I understand what you are getting at Tushar, I am just so surprised that there are people who have seen this too and who feel this way.

I agree with you, even though the situation you have described is almost unavoidable, I think we should manage it in such a way that our larger group does not become derelict.

I am astounded by your intelligence, will you be my friend? @TusharSuradkar

[Austinelewex]

Hi @Ewaade_3A

I am so keen to know how you get to snap a praying matin without being afraid. Hahaha.

Many Female Local Guides here do not have the courage to do so.

I have a picture of grasshopper I hope I can be able to find it and share it with you.

Best regards.

Have a beautiful day dear!

[Ewaade_3A]

Wait until you see the video. I will like to see your Grasshopper. Thank you @Austinelewex

good to read from you.

So close, yet so far apart

[TusharSuradkar]

It is a privilege to call you friends.

Thanks, @Ewaade_3A

BR,
Tushar

[Ewaade_3A]

sviđa mi se što ti ovih dana dovoljno vjeruješ u moj ‘hrvatski’ da mi pišeš ‘duge odgovore’. Ljubav i povjerenje ide! Osjećam te. Drago mi je da savršeno dobro razumijete što govori i Tushar. @renata1

[renata1]

@Ewaade_3A pa ti si osoba od povjerenja. Da savršeno dobro razumijem što govori @TusharSuradkar

[Ewaade_3A]

@AsifAmirBhuyian do you trust me enough to finally say something to me?

[ErmesT]

I like this post, and this conversation, @Ewaade_3A , @TusharSuradkar .

A bit less than 3 hours before this post, I was posting my recap of Connect Live '19, and I was thinking about to add a note that can be related to the subject of this post. At the end, I decided not to do it, and to write a separate post, but the idea was to try to explain a concept that is very close to what you are writing here. Why the Local Guides do this? Do they really believe that having badges, or likes, or solution, will open the door of Connect Live? If they think so, they are totally wrong. I have seen Local Guides adding photos over photos in Maps to increase the level (and I have seen a lot of them removed from the program for this reason). Do they really believe that the Googler are not checking the contents?

BTW, this happen every year, it is a sad moment but at the end every year the Community gain a group of great new local guides, while the others disappear, to wake up after one more year.

This year we have a very special situation, because Connect Live has been cancelled, so many of them (the ones who tagged thousands of times, the ones who wrote 200 empty post in one month) will believe that everything was vain. What they will never know, because they will not read your post, is that it was useless in any case.

Sharing “original” contents, showing who you are, is what really matter. It doesn’t matter if you write a post every month, what is important is what you have to share.

Of course, there is an appropriate way to tag people @TusharSuradkar

It is “mentioning” people because they are related to your post, or they did something related to your post.

Well, I didn’t wanted to write this two months ago, because I didn’t wanted to offer a “strategy” to the cheaser of a free trip, but now is a good time for talking about that, so thank you for starting this conversation

[Ewaade_3A]

The moment I saw @ErmesT mentioned you I just knew it had to be this post first.

I am meant to laugh, but I will not. How can you leave me for over 1 month?!

How can you leave all your fans for so long?

Next time you mean to go away, you have to warn us, you are that important.

Like I noticed this morning that Katyal’s G logo had turned black! I wanted to cry!

We should be warned if important people are going to be away or are going to leave.

Now, I will go and read your comment.