I join the interesting comparison on the validity of the statistics and their sometimes “obsessive” use.
Like all indicators (in my work I find myself using KPIs to measure and evaluate every day), I also believe that the values of one’s own Local Guide profile compared with those of others should be used to understand and improve one’s contribution to the community of Google users Maps, which I think is one of the most beautiful tools that the internet era has given us.
My generation (I’m in my twenties with a few decades of experience…) used paper maps to find their way in unknown lands, exactly like the explorers of the era of the famous Christopher Columbus of Genoa.
With the advent of Google Maps everything has changed: so what is the contribution of Local Guides for?
Referring to the concept of “collective intelligence”, our contribution serves to make Google Maps a unique place, where you can not only find the right path, but also the most up-to-date one, with new roads not yet mapped added, with new shops opened or closed , with routes closed to traffic, etc.
Google Maps, thanks to our photos, will be able to make everyone aware of particular corners of the places we have visited, and - thanks to our judgments - whoever intends to go to a restaurant or shop will be able to have our opinion on it.
Sometimes there is not enough time to contribute as much as we would like, but every effort is amply rewarded by the satisfaction of having rendered a service to others, and therefore having contributed to making the world a little better than we found it.
As in real life there are dishonest people, the judgments may also be false, and the photos posted may not concern the pinned place, but the ever increasing number of LGs will be able to easily unmask these people (or avatars).
Going back to the stellar photo statistics and all the other rankings, I believe that the excellent work that @AdamGT has been doing for years is a wonderful tool to compare ourselves with the “best-in-class”, to understand if the most viewed photos refer to particular perspectives or not (whole/external, vertical/horizontal), and whether it is better to post a very large number of photographs or whether to favor quality over quantity.
Personally, I’ve changed my mind several times (he who doesn’t change his mind can’t change anything, wrote George Bernard Shaw), thanks to the very useful T100 system by the aforementioned @AdamGT , which already now offers many views.
Certainly there are other comparison tools, such as the one mentioned by @MortenCopenhagen , but I agree with @TerryPG that - apart from the doubts about their real usefulness - their mention in this discussion area of @AdamGT 's rankings is somewhat inappropriate, being his guests .
A hug to all the LGs from Rome, Italy.
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