Google Maps makes it incredibly easy to provide reviews and your photos of any place at any time. There’s no other platform that encourages me to easily share feedback and reviews in a way that reaches hundreds of thousands of people.
It all started when I uploaded pictures of my spring break visit to China. I was working on a video series, which I started to post to Youtube. Google notified me that I could post my photos to Google Maps, which would show up when people searched for places on the platform. One of my first posts was of watches I tried from a start-up lab in Hong Kong, which went on to garner thousands of views by the time I got back to the States.
I realized then that this platform was much bigger than I imagined. When I returned to Atlanta for school, I realized I could post reviews and tips on everything I knew or visited in the city, which I capitalized on. I’ve responded to questions about how safe it was to walk near Ponce de Leon Avenue at night (be careful!) and posted food pictures and reviews of restaurants I frequented, one of which was Papi’s Cuban Grill. I was happy to give advice to fellow travelers and share my experience easily to people who would use Google to understand more about new places they visit. I continued to impart advice and pictures of my adventures in Atlanta, which I then took with me as I moved back to DC, visited Boston, and made it out to the West Coast. Since then, I’ve regularly reviewed places I’ve visited, and received positive feedback on my reviews. I hope to continue imparting my advice on the greater community, and hopefully interact more with other guides who make this community a great place.