The other day I was looking for something on Google Maps and for some reason noticed that Cool Creek Country Club in Wrightsville, PA was incorrectly labeled as ‘Cool Brook County Club’ in their base map.  I will always remember the golf course at Cool Creek.  It was one of the first golf courses I ever played.  My golf game is terrible, but I will always remember the one time I had a great tee shot that landed 5 feet from the pin on their par 3 # 2.

Enough about my horrible golf game and the one shot out of a thousand that I choose to remember.  When I saw that map I also saw a little link under it that said, “Report a Problem.”  So I did.  I filled out a form and told them of their error.  Within a week or so I got a nice email from them saying that they had researched the issue and determined that there was in fact an error on their map.  They intend to fix the error on their map.

This is just another small lesson in how the web has changes the nature of information and how it is created, disseminated and consumed.  Consumers can instantly become editors and even creators of information.  Virtually everything is now a conversation where there used to be one way presentations.  This new world of conversations comes with opportunities and pitfalls.  The biggest pitfall in my opinion is to not become part of the conversation.  It is a different way of thinking, especially for some of us older folks, but it is the world we are now living in. So whether it is Facebook, blogging, LinkedIn, Wikipedia or just fixing a Google Map, join in the conversation.  The more you participate, the more you will enjoy and profit from the experience.

BTW, I think I bogeyed the hole!