Hello guys!
Once in a while you get the chance to do something meaningful, to use social media and other digital platforms to connect with people in a way you are actually able to help and that’s precisely how I feel about the Local Guides Program.
I have to confess that I started sharing on Google Maps by accident, it wasn’t my goal to become a local guide, but just to leave honest reviews about places I visited for the fact that I would’ve loved to read some information before I get to the place, specially those places that not fulfill my needs.
Suddenly I was checking in a lot of places, every coffee shop, hotel, restaurant, etc… the first thing I did was to look it up in Google Maps to see reviews, what can I expect, what food is the best, which one has the best drinks and which ones are terrible. And if I didn’t find them, I just added the place (also I’m a bit obsessed with details so sometimes I tried to change the information that wasn’t accurate).
There was this time, I was in my favorite coffee shop, just working and enjoying a cup of Nicaraguan coffee (which is AWESOME, you definitely have to try) when I realized that somebody nearby has made a review about that branch but in the wrong address (this coffee shop is a franchise and have 4 locations on Google Maps) and right there it hit me: this is why is important the Local Guide Program, because it’s an opportunity, not to show off yourself, but to help people, customers and brands, to get the best out of Google Maps, to always deliver the best experience to everyone, but only because we, as community, help them by updating information constantly, sharing the best and the worst, having in mind that you can always be better.
This Program is an everyday opportunity, to connect beyond social engagement, to help even those you don’t know and maybe never will meet in person, to do that for the love of social and community thinking.