I have been posting tonnes of editing, review and photos onto Google map.
I am a Level 10 guide, and my count on my pictures is around 85 million views at the moment.
I’m quite happy knowing that many people are viewing my posting and it’s very encouraging to see my count goes up day by day.
This is some kind of achievement for me, if you ask me.
It makes me feel like I am some kind of a hidden celebrity where people might start asking who is this dude posting so much information on the map.
The traceable and measurable statistics that’s accessible from my local guide profile consistently motivates me to keep going.
Although there are tonnes of other travel guide apps or tools online, I still prefer to use Google map as I find it more consistent globally no matter where I go (actually except People’s Republic of China).
It used to be quite user unfriendly to find good spots to visit in my travel destination but nowadays, it has become a lot easier to use.
By keying in a search key, I’d now get a list of all relevant places with review scores and total of reviews on a thumbnail list which allows me to browse through easily.
Thanks to contributions from local guides from all across the globe, I managed to find quite some awesome local spots when travelling.
Understanding this will not happen without contribution from everyone and with thankful thought in mind, I wanted to help other users to benefit from my experience and knowledge.
I hence, started posting and most of all, sharing.
I made a lot of mistakes and missed a lot of great stuff when visiting some places for the first time.
For example, some great food and events that are not on the menu but one should not have missed, what are the best times to visit a popular restaurant, some great options that are available free of charge but not many are aware of, etc.
Things like that are tend to be missed if no one actually told us. I’ve paid my price for making those mistakes hence, I’d hate letting others to make same mistakes.
Due to regular posting I’ve been doing, I’ve also managed to improve my camera skills. I started paying attention on how to take nicer shots from various angles and zooming, background lighting and also the information that’s contained within the picture itself.
I’d also think carefully about information I’d like to include in my reviews as I want to make sure I am not misleading or sabotaging somebody’s business but at the same time, not letting more people becoming victims of some dishonest business owners.
The more I contribute, I feel that I am helping to prevent people from finding themselves lost when visiting a new place.
I also think that local knowledge helps improving a visitor’s experience hugely even when you don’t know anyone local.
I feel that I am helping heaps of people day by day with my posting.
Finally, I feel like I am helping to build a better world, and that makes me feel good.