I love the feeling of contributing to small, local businesses in the Madison area as well as in rural Wisconsin. I feel as though I’ve gone above and beyond as a customer when I leave a review. I’ve been on the side of the counter where I felt obligated to make so many people happy for minimum wage. Now, I’m on the reverse side - in a way where I’m not demanding, but where I’m being open and honest about my experience(s) to help promote a place or encourage a company to make necessary changes to improve their ways. It’s really quite a democratic take and attitude that I have.
I’m always taking photos when I travel to new places, be it restaurants or parks. Sometimes, I end up taking photos that people really gravitate towards, when thinking about whether or not to visit a business or a park. When I see the numbers of people who have viewed my photos and which ones have been viewed the most, I feel a real sense of accomplishment with my pictures and contributions. It not only feels nice to contribute, but I get to see what it is that stands out to people about different places. It’s fascinating to me. I like to share my experiences with others and I feel that with Google Maps, I can do just that. Don’t get me wrong, I like to read about other people’s experiences, too. It just feels so rewarding, personally, to be able to give something back to society. I’m all about supporting causes, too, and this feels like a cause. It’s because I love sharing knowledge with others because it has always felt so nice when knowledgable people have shared their insights with me about places they had already discovered. I knew and know that feeling and so if I can return the favor to others, I feel honored. I also know what it feels like to be in environments that could really use improvement and are stagnant. Therefore, I want to be a voice for those who may not know how to speak up about the problems that are present, let alone see the problems, and use my power to help in the ways that I can.
With Google Maps, I feel empowered to take action about concerns/problems that I might have. For instance, I had numerous negative experiences at Madison Area Technical College. When I felt as though no one at the college took my concerns seriously enough (not even the associate deans), I wrote a detailed review on google about the various problems I had been facing. Someone reached out to me, from the college. Unfortunately, that didn’t resolve my problem. However, it’s reassuring to know that I can forewarn people about the potential issues to be aware of (that I faced) - and to let people of authority see what it can be like from the perspective of a student to be facing the issues that I faced. I went from feeling frustrated and powerless, in that situation, to being aware of what I could do and felt empowered, as a result.
For me, I’d much rather participate in helping someone become successful than participate in someone else’s failure. I very strongly believe that what goes around comes around -karma- and so we must be responsible for taking action and participating in helping when and where we can. It’s becoming increasingly important for people to help one another. The more feedback we can give to those who’ve served us, the better off everyone is. Thank you so much.
