I have been depending on Google Maps ever since its existence. I appreciate its cause so much to the extent that I have been one of its beta testers for several years now. Through my time as a local guide, I have answered many inquiries and shared several opinions to help people decide about places to visit through my reviews and posted photos.
However, today I would like to talk about a unique experience I had with Google Maps; one that may actually be beyond the platform’s main mission.
It was back in 2013, when Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi - the country’s first democratically elected president after 2011 Arab spring revolution - was deposed in a coup led by his defense minister, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The action was followed by demonstrations and clashes between protesters and the regime throughout Egypt. It was like a hit and run between both parties and tear gas was covering several squares across many widespread cities. The scene was completely random that it was very difficult for protesters to get what was really going on in the crowded, fast changing situations in which they could easily get arrested.
That is when I came up with the idea of depending on the information I get from Google Maps and using it as a “Heat Map” to spread my findings to other protesters via other social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to help answer critical questions in real time.
Such questions were as critical as which paths should protesters take so they can meet at the arranged time or locating where the police forces were advancing. It was also helpful to locate the mosques where people could meet and walk together to their final destination in main city squares; bearing in mind that all of this was at a time when the police was blocking most of the routes and all means of transportation were absent.
Sadly, the demonstration did not achieve much, and El-Sisi was elected as a president few months after that through a fake election, however, I am sure that if it hadn’t been for Google Maps, things could have been even worse.
I can assume that more people could have been arrested or injured and several people would have failed to reach the destination agreed upon.
I consider this as one of the most challenging experiences I have faced as a local guide.