Hello everyone! I am Zheyan. I am currently 25 years old, living in Penang Island, Malaysia. I have been using google maps to look for places since high school. Back then, I only use Google Maps for direction to locations that I planned to visit.
Recently, curiosity sparked in me, I started to wonder who and how to upload images of location to Google Maps. I started to do research online and I realised that there are a group of Google Maps users called Local Guides, they are actively contributing to Google Maps by uploading pictures and giving reviews to all of these locations.
At the meantime, I also found out that there are also people uploading 360° pictures to Google Maps. After looking at a few 360° pictures, I fell in love with 360° picture because it gives you the feeling that you are actually at the place and looking at the surrounding of the location. From that moment, I decided to contribute to Google Maps by constantly uploading 360° pictures to Google Maps.
My pictures started to gain attention in Google Maps, it starts from 10 views, 100 views, 1,000 views, 10,000 views, 100,000 views and until now it reached 315,000 views. Looking at the number of views of my 360° pictures growing to 315,000 views in a few months time, I realised that my pictures are actually contributing to Google Maps and the community. My pictures help thousands of people by giving them a different perspective on the locations that I have visited and it also helps them in making decision on the places they planned to visit. I never knew that my involvement in Google Maps will have such a huge impact towards the communities around the world. This sense of fulfilment kept me constantly contributing to Google Maps and the community.
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Google for providing such a great platform for Local Guides like us to contribute to the community! Let’s connect each other and make this world a better place! Feel free to contact me if you want to know more about Penang! Let’s enjoy the beauty of Penang at the following pictures!
