I’ve been on the Local Guides for a long time already and it makes me feel useful! Just as in my everyday job as a police officer, I can help and guide people. I can connect people and give them advice. I think it is amazing that the internet can create a community like this, based on reviews, photo’s,… just to help connect customers and (local) businesses.
I try to do so by writing long and very detailed reviews. I desribe the food, the sercive on table, the atmosphere,… most of the time it are positive reviews, but sometimes it is negative. If my review is not very positive, I try to reach out and give them some input to change. Most of the times I recieve an answer of the business that they appreciated my input and that they actually did change what I suggested!
I find it very rewarding to see that my photo’s have a high view rate. My most popular photo has over 82k views.
My most popular review has almost 6k views.
In my city, Ghent, Belgium, I’m one the 5% best Local Guides. It gives me he feeling that I matter. That what I do, can make a difference. It makes me feel positive about myself and the world we live in. It makes me believe that we, as a community, can change the world.
11 years ago, I made a very basic and primitive Promo-Video for my city, Ghent. You can say it was my very first Local Guide-thing I ever did. I’d like to share it with you, so you can experience the beauty of the Local Guides yourself.