Behind the Google Map app, there are millions of codes, hard work from some very smart nerds. It is accurate, dependable but it’s also lifeless. It does what you ask it too. An accurate app that is dependable yet cold as a robot would be or a piece of software would be. Right.
But herein lies the beauty of Google Maps, the Local Guides program. A program that breathes life into an otherwise cold app. The beauty of this program lies in the simple fact that it allows everybody to add their perspective to maps through pictures, written reviews, videos, fact check, etc and in doing it also encourages people to share with the world what they find beautiful, or tasty, or inspiring.
Just like no fingerprint is the same as another, I truly believe every Local Guide has a unique perspective and their pictures, reviews will always be different from another guide. This is the beauty of mankind, you can see the same thing but have a very different perspective from everyone else viewing the same thing, at the same time. Imagine looking at the Taj Mahal, some may see the brilliant architecture, some may be mesmerized by its history, some may marvel at the science behind the construction. Each guide has their own unique perspective and they bring that unique perspective into the content they create and upload on Google maps.
This is the beauty of Google Maps & the Local Guide Program - where machine meets mankind, when accuracy mixes with stories, when geographical location comes alive through millions of romantic views from the different guides visiting.
For me this belief, that every guide brings to maps their own perspective and story, can be felt clearly in a memorable episode I witnessed at the Jaya pub in Jakarta.
Jaya Pub, the oldest pub in Jakarta. In plain view it seems a rundown pub, but 5 mins at the bar or the snooker table and you will start to hear stories, see interesting characters and suddenly this pub is not a pub anymore but a living legend. Ricardo is one such legend.
When I first laid eyes on Ricardo across the bar, I was a bit intimidated – bulky, brooding over his drink he seemed in a mean mood but then he walked over to the band and ask to sing a song. And sing he did. He could have given Rod Stewart a run for his money. The pub lit up, encores everywhere, even the band cheered him on. Suddenly it wasn’t a pub but a stadium and the performer was casting his spell on us, the audience.
The Local Guide program means I get to see the world through the eyes of millions of Local Guides, enriching my own perspective and thoughts.