My Feature Idea: Enabling Communication with Our Maps Followers to encourage them to join the Local Guides Community!

Google Maps tips & tricks
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Caption - image promoting Local Guides Connect, encouraging users with 2.3K+ followers to bring their audience to the platform, featuring a colorful G logo and various travel and food-related photos.
Caption - image promoting Local Guides Connect, encouraging users with 2.3K+ followers to bring their audience to the platform, featuring a colorful G logo and various travel and food-related photos.1024×576 73.7 KB

Hey Googlers, Google Moderators, and the incredible Designing Team!

@AngieYC @MoniDi @DeniGu @Ivi_Ge @Latika_Malhotra

As a passionate Local Guide Level 10 with over 2,347 followers on Maps (and I’m sure many of us have built similar followings!), I’ve been thinking about how we can further enrich our amazing Local Guides community.

Caption - Nand Kishore's Local Guide profile, displaying his Level 10 status, contribution statistics, review tags, bio, follower count, and recent photos of places visited.
Caption - Nand Kishore's Local Guide profile, displaying his Level 10 status, contribution statistics, review tags, bio, follower count, and recent photos of places visited.1080×2376 183 KB

Looking at my own followers (see screenshot above!), it strikes me that a significant portion of these engaged individuals might not be active on Local Guides Connect. This platform is invaluable for sharing insights, learning from each other, and getting official updates. What if we could bridge this gap?

My Feature Idea: Enabling Communication with Our Maps Followers

I propose introducing a feature that allows Local Guides to communicate with or send a targeted/push notification to their followers on Google Maps. This could be a simple, non-intrusive way to:

  • Encourage them to join and participate in the Local Guides Connect community. Imagine the influx of new perspectives and contributions if even a fraction of our followers joined the conversation here!

  • Share a link to a particularly insightful Connect post or a helpful tip.

  • Announce participation in a local meet-up or a Connect Live event (if applicable).

Why is this important? Other Benefits:

  • Stronger, More Active Connect Community: More active users mean more diverse discussions, solutions, and a richer knowledge base for everyone.
  • Increased Engagement on Maps: Followers who join Connect are likely to become even more engaged and higher-quality contributors on Maps itself, inspired by the community.
  • Better Feedback Loop: A larger, more active Connect community provides Google with a broader and more representative sample for feedback on new features and program developments.
  • Enhanced Sense of Belonging: For followers, getting a nudge from someone they already trust and follow on Maps could be the perfect invitation to join a welcoming global community.
  • Skill Development: Connect is a fantastic place to learn new photography skills, writing tips, and mapping techniques. Bringing more guides here will help uplift the quality of contributions across the board.

Other Possible Ideas to Notify Followers:

  1. “Share on Connect” Prompt for Followers: When someone follows a Local Guide, perhaps after a week or so, they could receive a one-time, gentle notification from Google Maps suggesting, “Your followed guide, [Local Guide Name e.g. @NandKK , @TravellerG , @TusharSuradkar ], is active on Local Guides Connect. Join the conversation!”
  2. Follower Digest/Highlight: A periodic, opt-in notification for users that highlights a key Connect post or a call-to-action (like joining Connect) from one of the Local Guides they follow.
  3. Profile Call-to-Action Button: Allow Local Guides to add a prominent (but optional) “Join me on Local Guides Connect!” button or link on their Maps profile, making it easier for followers to discover Connect.
  4. In-App Notification for Milestones: When a Local Guide reaches a significant follower milestone, allow them a one-time option to send a “Thank You & Invitation to Connect” message to their followers.

I truly believe that by enabling a simple way for us to reach out to our dedicated followers, we can significantly boost participation on Local Guides Connect, making our collective efforts even more impactful. This would be a fantastic step towards fostering an even more connected and collaborative global community of Local Guides.

It’s important to note: Google Maps may already be sending emails inviting Local Guides to join the community, but these messages are frequently overlooked. For followers, a personal invitation from a Local Guide they already trust on Maps could be the perfect catalyst to engage with this vibrant global community.**

Would love to hear the thoughts of the team and fellow Local Guides on this!

Best,

Nand Kishore
A Passionate Local Guide from Kolkata, India

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@NandKK I certainly don’t remember but @MahabubMunna has already come up with a post on this topic earlier.
Thanks :handshake:

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Is it ? However, I did not get any similar post on this topic. @ShailendraOjha

Anyways, if there will be any such topic, Googlers will anyhow merge this.

Thanks again @ShailendraOjha ji.

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Hello @NandKK and @ShailendraOjha
This issue has been raised a good number of times on connect. It was presented as an idea on the old connect by several local guides.

One set back this will cause is that,it will infringe on privacy of local guides all around the world.

It will also make the maps a mess of communication by map users.

Lastly Google maps might become like another social media. There isn’t the probability of a Googler responding to this. Goodluck

Cheers

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I do agree with you brother @SholaIB regarding the “CONS” of this one. Everything has a Pros and Cons in thier own features.

While a full communication option might be too much, a Profile Call-to-Action Button would be invaluable. This would enable Local Guides to prominently (and optionally) add a “Join me on Local Guides Connect!” button or link to their Maps profile, significantly easing the path for followers to discover CONNECT Platform.

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This is a really interesting idea! @NandKK, a lot of people indeed follow Local Guides without ever joining the program, and a direct way to encourage them could be a great way to grow the community.

However, I can also see some potential privacy concerns. Direct messaging followers could feel a bit intrusive to some users, and there might be a risk of it being used for spam if not managed carefully.

Perhaps a more subtle in-app notification or a pre-approved template message from Google encouraging them to join, rather than direct user-to-user messaging, could be a good compromise?

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Yes, my dear friend, @NandKK
If implemented, this will help our community a lot…
All the suggestions are valuable though some may have technical issues to implement…
From my side, I support your suggestion and request our LG Connect Team to look into it.
Best regards to all.
:handshake::bouquet::folded_hands:

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Thank you so much for your thoughtful endorsement, @NareshDarji bhai🙏

I really appreciate you taking the time to consider both the potential and the privacy concerns of this idea. Your suggestion of using subtle in-app notifications or pre-approved messages strikes a great balance — it’s encouraging without being intrusive. Let’s hope the team considers something along these lines to grow the community responsibly. :blush:

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Thank you so much, dear @TravellerG sir, for your kind words and support! :folded_hands:

It truly means a lot coming from you. I agree — while there may be technical challenges, the core idea has real potential to strengthen our community and bring in more passionate contributors.

Let’s keep the conversation going and hope the LG Connect Team takes note.

What’s one change you would love to see in Connect this year?

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Nice idea @NandKK, but let’s look at this from a different perspective. Those of us who are actively involved can almost be described as addicts. I find it difficult to stop, but it is just as difficult to get others to start if they don’t want to.

I live in a small country, and I’ve wondered for a long time why no one else here is active enough to show up on the monthly Country Leaderboards by @AdamGT. I discovered one guy was an LG because he stated that on his LinkedIn profile. When I contacted him about increasing his activity and joining the Leaderboards he said he wasn’t interested in being involved at that level. After a long time I saw another LG appear in one aspect of the Country Leaderboards and contacted her through there. She promised that 2025 would be more active than 2024, but she has done nothing more since then.

Some of my followers could not even be described as “engaged individuals”, as they seem to click to follow me, never add any more followers, and never add anything on Google Maps. I monitor them for a while, then delete them as being a bit suspect.

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Hello dear friend @NandKK
Yes, let us hope to receive a positive response from Google…

Facility/feature to add 360 degree photos to LG Connect, directly.
Thank you…
:bouquet::folded_hands:

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Thank you so much for sharing your honest reflections! :folded_hands:t3: @tony_b

I really appreciate your perspective — and you’ve highlighted something many of us have quietly observed. It’s true, for those of us deeply involved, this passion can feel like second nature… almost like an “addiction,” as you rightly said. But inspiring that spark in others isn’t always straightforward, especially when interest or motivation is lacking from their end.

I admire your efforts in reaching out and trying to build connections with fellow Local Guides in your country. It takes real dedication to keep that spirit alive when you feel like you’re doing it solo. And yes, I’ve also noticed a pattern with followers who seem passive or not genuinely engaged — it makes you wonder what their intent really is.

Thanks again.

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I too want this facility / feature to be added once again.

Thank you sir @TravellerG for your response.

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You are most welcome, dear @NandKK
Best wishes

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