Four years of building connections on Connect

[TraciC]

Caption: An illustration with an orange number 4 in the center, surrounded by Local Guides holding devices used to contribute information on Google Maps and to share posts on Connect.

On this day — July 15 — in 2016, we launched Connect as a way to bring you, Local Guides, together no matter where you are, what language you speak, or how you choose to help others.

To celebrate four years of Connect, here are accomplishments we've made together

• Over 1 million Local Guides have registered on Connect and hundreds of thousands visit every month
• Over 350,000 topics have been created
• Over 1.1 million comments have been posted
• Over 5.6 million likes have been given 
• Nearly 22,000 responses to posts have been marked a solution demonstrating how willing you are to help each other
• Over 5,600 ideas have been shared in the Idea Exchange with quite a few being implemented for Connect! 
• 30 Local Guides have become Connect Moderators (and we hope to add more soon!)

Note: The above numbers include activity from across our community including private boards, so they may differ from what you see publicly on Connect.

Celebrations have already started with a community-led celebration (kudos to @KashifMisidia  for kicking off the party), so thank you for helping us celebrate all month long on Connect!

Connect Moderators wanted to share a few words about why they love Connect:

• “To me, Connect has been at first a revelation as I discovered there were actually people that were as passionate about using and improving Maps as [much as] myself, and then later a source of inspiration due to the colorful and vibrant community of friendly, helpful Local Guides from all over the globe populating it every day.”  — @JanVanHaver 
• “It's a really good platform to connect (heh) with Local Guides from around the world, learning about their food, culture, and places without having to directly visit the locations, and also learning from each other. It's even better during this quarantine period where it's almost impossible to easily travel to other places.” — @iyudhi 
• “I think that what I like the most about Connect is its diversity, I’ve felt that way since I started using it, regardless of language, sex, religion, race or skin color. Its strengths include tolerance of the different. Secondly, discovering that in the antipodes of the world, there are people who think very similar to others who like to share travel stories, photos, and want to shake hands as a symbol of friendship. These friendships are forged little by little and that last over time, with only text and photos that we read on a Connect board. For all of this, I keep coming back to Connect for [the past] four years. Parking my car on its comfortable dashboards, to read the beautiful Local Guides posts from Japan, Europe, or Asia, their stories open windows to worlds that I don't know if I will ever be able to visit, but it surely stimulates my traveler spirit to discover new places. [To] all of them, thank you for showing them in this great modern Babel that is Connect.” — @FaridTDF 
• “For me, Connect is like a melting pot. It's not just improving Google Maps or contributing to the community, it's like making family away from your family. Connect helped me learn and improve myself in many ways and I made a wonderful family out here who are more than just friends to me.” — @SoniaK 

What's one of your favorite Connect moments since you joined? Share with us in the comments below!