Education for Local Guides

[#1]

Personally, I have been "guiding" in 2 countries and cities between Vietnam and Singapore. And I sensed that moderators need to really get more real than just reviewing reviews.

Firstly, there is a need for more moderators in the cities or countries. Not quite in a Google office halfway across the world. Should we need to moderate, I mean the community of users will be more convinced if it comes from a local guide or moderator.

Secondly, they need to see that they are in a great unique position to drive good initiatives as moderators.  Organise meet ups themselves and guide others to learn to arrange meet ups on their own. Grow the community to be more effective in contribution, verification and validation of businesses, places and info.

Third, when it comes to moderating, we don't really need numbers to be able to see that in certain ways Google Map is losing relevance. The flood of pictures of food and lists of food the tops and bottoms tens of places to eat or food finds. Over skewed content in food really reduces the relevance of Maps, and the Guides programme.

At the end, sure, we now know there are lots of great eateries or not many thereof at where we are. But ultimately, do we remember that we still need to know how to get there? And it is still the primary purpose of Google Maps and Guides.

Moderators need to help push and seek the balance in making the whole eco system of programmes, apps and initiative to work. Pics of sandwiches, pappadums or sushi is not quite enough to get people there. Pics of places, nearby landmarks and proper local knowledge* in reviews are worth way more in this aspect.

Ps. * some places call it subways**, metro, underground, MRT, trains, city railways. Ever wondered how many users lost their way just because no moderators or local guides actually began to start naming it the way it is known locally.

** and some places we know this name as a restaurant chain only.

Bottom line is this, to be relevant is to be useful. To be helpful is to first be available. To be effective and have impact, it needs to be real.

It bothers me when all I can do is drool of pretty food pics and those food cannot find their way into my tummy.

Cheers and guide on!

Bryan (Singapore & Vietnam)

[BryanTan-SG]

Personally, I have been "guiding" in 2 countries and cities between Vietnam and Singapore. And I sensed that moderators need to really get more real than just reviewing reviews.

Firstly, there is a need for more moderators in the cities or countries. Not quite in a Google office halfway across the world. Should we need to moderate, I mean the community of users will be more convinced if it comes from a local guide or moderator.

Secondly, they need to see that they are in a great unique position to drive good initiatives as moderators.  Organise meet ups themselves and guide others to learn to arrange meet ups on their own. Grow the community to be more effective in contribution, verification and validation of businesses, places and info.

Third, when it comes to moderating, we don't really need numbers to be able to see that in certain ways Google Map is losing relevance. The flood of pictures of food and lists of food the tops and bottoms tens of places to eat or food finds. Over skewed content in food really reduces the relevance of Maps, and the Guides programme.

At the end, sure, we now know there are lots of great eateries or not many thereof at where we are. But ultimately, do we remember that we still need to know how to get there? And it is still the primary purpose of Google Maps and Guides.

Moderators need to help push and seek the balance in making the whole eco system of programmes, apps and initiative to work. Pics of sandwiches, pappadums or sushi is not quite enough to get people there. Pics of places, nearby landmarks and proper local knowledge* in reviews are worth way more in this aspect.

Ps. * some places call it subways**, metro, underground, MRT, trains, city railways. Ever wondered how many users lost their way just because no moderators or local guides actually began to start naming it the way it is known locally.

** and some places we know this name as a restaurant chain only.

Bottom line is this, to be relevant is to be useful. To be helpful is to first be available. To be effective and have impact, it needs to be real.

It bothers me when all I can do is drool of pretty food pics and those food cannot find their way into my tummy.

Cheers and guide on!

Bryan (Singapore & Vietnam)

[UmurGuneysu]

Yeah, 

I definetely agree on that! It would be great if Google starts a site/ app like Google Maps Travel i mentioned( https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/Idea-Exchange/Google-Maps-Travel-App/idi-p/1924923 ) additionally. And there would be difference between amateurs and pros... And pros would contribute more motivated.

Respect!

Umur from Istanbul

[Petra_M]

Hi @BryanTan-SG,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I'm changing the status to Needs information, because we need more information to better understand what you’re suggesting. 

Could you please tell us details? How would you imagine it? Do you mean, a training or educational video, or email for the new Local Guides members?

You can even edit your idea, and add only the details of the idea, and upload screenshots if it's possible. 

PS: I've re-labelled your post and now it appears in the Connect section.

[Petra_M]

Hi @BryanTan-SG,

Thanks for sharing!

I'd like to let you know, you've shared the exact same idea twice, with different titles. I've edited the title for better understanding and it could be found easier. For that reason, I'm merging this post to Education for Local Guides.

[Ivi_Ge]

Hello @BryanTan-SG,

We are closing this idea as further information was not provided. If you have more information to add, let us know and we'll re-open the idea. Thank you for sharing!

[Abdoul-kader1]

Créer un hub, une plateforme de partager de connaissance, de formations en ligne. Ces hubs seront animés par des volontaires, des local guides en vue d'aider d'autres locals guide à mieux exploiter les opportunités qu'offre map surtout pour les jeunes des couches vulnérables !!!

Personnellement, le produit Google business m'a beaucoup aider pour me faire me connaître et faire connaître mes services. D'autres jeunes, surtout en chômage, peuvent en profiter largement s'il y a des mentors prêts à les accompagner.

Créer un hub à l'image de connect, mais qui s'occupe, qui concerne la formation sur les outils Google et de Google map en l'occurrence.

[BorrisS]

Hello @Abdoul-kader1,

Thank you for sharing your idea with us, however a similar one has been suggested before.

I am going to merge your post to the already existing one!

To learn more about the Idea Exchange, you can read How do I use the Idea Exchange? article.