Through Google map application, I personally benefited myself many times to find location and information as well as the review of places such as hotels, schools, hospitals, doctors, restaurants, and even the tourist spots. Particularly the reviews made by people for such places helped me make decisions about appropriate services that I liked to avail. Sometimes, it was only the photos of a place submitted by people that made me visit a location for the intended purpose.
Google Map is a great tool that can enrich us with geographical knowledge, too. The addresses of different locations and the direction to those places allow us to visit literally every corner of the world, be it in a remote village of Asia or a tinsel town of Europe. Nowadays, people need to travel around the world for various purposes – business, migration, education, medical treatment, etc. They need to know the appropriate locations, with correct information in the relevant address. Google map has created the opportunity for us to share all this information within a few minutes using modern smartphones and tablets. However, people may be tired of not finding direction and discouraged to use the platform if the information is not accurate and reliable. Regular updating of information can solve this issue.
Having realized the fact, I started reviewing, contributing and posting contents or photos to the google map. In the last few years, I shared a few photos and contributed by providing updated information on many places. The photo included here was taken using my smartphone and posted to the google map in the summer of 2017. I took this picture on my way crossing a river towards a remote village of southwest Bangladesh in an official visit. The picture shows a boat carrying watermelon fruits to the nearest local markets for sale.
Selling watermelons is a viable alternative livelihood option in the area for the local inhabitants of Dacope – a sub-district in Khulna, Bangladesh. Now, there are many people who don’t know that the watermelon they are eating in Khulna city actually came from Dacope. By sharing the photo with the google map community, more people knew about the delicious fruit and its origin.
When more than 350 people had liked the photo on the google map, it inspired me so much that I started learning photography and bought a camera.
But, I was busy with my regular official job at the time and could hardly manage time to take more photos and post those into the google map. It is, only in the current year, when I saw the circular of “Connect Live 2019” that made me interested once again to contribute to the google map.
Now, I have been planning on the ways in which the google map platform can be improved to serve millions of people around the world.
