I have been a user of Google for a long time, and a Local Guide for the past number of years. I started getting more involved when I moved from Ireland to live in Brazil 5 years ago. At this time the idea in Brazil of leaving an evaluation or a feedback about a particular establishment or public place for example, was still relatively new. After I discovered the potential of Local Guides, I was immediately hooked.
Some of the key features that keeps me coming back to using and contributing to Local Guides is exactly that - it’s a two way exchange. You know that the more you contribute, the more you are helping other people find the services they need. You are improving the quality of these services for not just everyone in your community, but for you too, as a user. Establishments such as restaurants, cafés, bars and shops are continuously improving what they offer to the public, based on real public data offered and made visible to all on the platform that is Google Local Guides.
I love most to add photos of places. I always try to find unique ways of capturing through the medium of photography the taste of a cup of coffee or the smell of colorful flowers in a rose garden. I want the viewer to feel the pizza crust soften between their teeth or the quenching of their thirst on a warm and clammy São Paulo sunset orange summer evening, at a street corner boteco. Google Local Guides makes this possible through the sharing of real world experiences fed on by lively photos and videos and first-hand textual accounts. I love writing reviews too, and then following up on user engagement!
Adding new places and correcting errors on existing places is something I enjoy quite a lot too. Answering questions that I know will help other users get more relevant information about a particular place is also very helpful.
Recently Google emailed me to tell me that I was in the top 1% of Local Guides in São Paulo, Brasil. I was surprised by this as really it’s hobby for me and to know that a hobby is helping so many other people, and contributing evermore to better servicing of the community in which I live is really rewarding.
To know that I am part of an even bigger community on a global scale is truly inspiring.
To know that I can make a difference in this world and improve peoples lives by way of technology, and by doing something I love, is mesmerizing!
Thank you Local Guides! You can continue to count my contributions.