Summary
What does it mean to reach Google Local Guide Level 7, and how can a simple habit of sharing travel moments become real help and motivation for others?
I don’t usually pay attention to rankings. But when I got an email five days ago about becoming a celebrity and saw the lights of a helicopter shining on a skyscraper, I stopped for a moment. Somehow, this badge said more than just feedback.
At first I just smiled at it, but then I realized: this little badge is actually the imprint of my past months. Of walks, of dinners, of spontaneous discoveries, of all those moments when I clicked a button with my phone or wrote a few lines about a place that just touched me.
And interestingly, Google is interested in exactly that: real human experience.
In recent months, I have received notifications about the views of my photos and reviews very often. It shocked me how many people have relied on those moments that I just casually recorded.
Somewhere in the world, someone is choosing a restaurant tonight because I sat there a few weeks ago and took a picture of it and wrote a few nice lines about the time I spent there. That’s a pretty special feeling. And for a moment, I feel the desire to document my trip even more consciously, because by doing so, I’m really helping.
This year, I’ve been to 11 countries, on two continents. For example, see here.
If you think about it, that’s a story in itself. And Google Maps is just quietly saying: “You have more to show.”
What does Level 7 Local Guide mean?
It means that I have collected 5,000 points in Google’s system by sharing photos, giving opinions and providing additional information about the places I have visited.
You can check out my profile here.
The Local Guide program was launched by Google in 2015. I published my first review 8 years ago: about Starbucks Árkád Budapest. Back then, I had no idea that one day it would contain my journey with meaningful points, levels and statistics.
The first 5,000 points were accumulated over 8 years. You can earn different amounts of points with a review – the more detailed the description, the more pictures you upload, the more points you can get. As I recall, the most you can get with a single contribution is somewhere around 50 points.
Interestingly, my points have started to grow really fast, almost exponentially, in recent years – especially this year. In hindsight, I understand: as my life has changed, so has the world I show around me.
I read somewhere that level 7 is already considered a very high community status on Google Maps. From the point of view of the system, this means that you are considered a reliable, active, high-level local knowledge content producer.
You can reach up to 10 levels in the program. Level 8 starts at 15,000 points – but that doesn’t mean it will take another 16 years to reach it. At the current pace, it’s more a matter of months.
According to statistics, most people get stuck at levels 1–3. I rarely compare my own numbers to others, but maybe someone else has more to say than me: 499 photos – 354,195 views. 132 opinions. Supposedly, that’s a lot.
My photo views currently look like this:
I don’t feel particularly strong, but it seems like the numbers work differently here. My photos fall into the top 5-8% of the Local Guide community, which I find more honorable than understandable.
What does this level mean to me?
What I feel has nothing to do with the points. It’s more about the realization that what I notice in the world along the way can be a real help, a support, a handhold for others.
When I receive similar messages even several times a week, it makes my heart skip a beat.
Congratulations! Your photos have reached another milestone. In total, your photos have been viewed more than 350,000 times, which means that you have provided important information to many people.
Or:
Your contributions were viewed 26,740 times in November.
I know, of course, that this is because I visit beautiful places where a lot of people are looking for information. Still: it feels quite strange to think that 25,000 people have viewed what I posted.
Somehow now I have the feeling that I want to contribute even more consciously to this system. On the one hand, it feels good to see that others find my work useful – and yes, it is work, even if from the outside it often looks like just uploading pictures and writing down a few thoughts.
On the other hand, I notice that the thought of reaching level 8 motivates me. This was completely out of my reach before. I never thought that this little “call” would suddenly leave a mark on me. Now it has.
So this is where the next chapter starts.
So I’m starting to push myself to the next level!Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
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Short introduction