I had a nasty ingrown toenail that was causing a lot of grief. I knew I needed to take care of it before SXSW. A lot of walking there, etc.
So how to find a podiatrist? I know that Mashable just ran a piece on how to find a doctor using several online services, but I went to Yelp.
Why? I needed a dentist recently and the personal referrals I got didn’t accept our insurance, so I googled. And that lead me to Yelp.
So this time I just went there to start. I called the one who had two great reviews and a decent website. Left a message and followed up with an email through the site.
The Dr. called me personally and set me up for the next day.
The service was awesome and bedside manner was superb.
But what really struck me was the small town feel and doctor as small businessman. I paid using PayPal authorization, I found him through community reviews, and completed the circle by writing this blog and writing a review on Yelp.
It’s offline community forming because of online activity. Just a small example, but I’m sure it’s going to keep happening.
5 Comments
March 4, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I love when online/offline stuff balances out together. Yelp has proven pretty useful too (recently discovered its usefulness myself as well). It’s like an eHarmony date without the awkward look through the coffee shop glass.
March 5, 2008 at 6:09 am
I had the bizarre experience last month of sitting on a panel with a guy who blithely asserted a key, crucial, fundamental, unbreakable difference between “real” friends and people you meet online. Three of us on the panel just stared at him as he kept making this point, before we finally regrouped and started picking apart his assumptions.
Different people will have different rates of “permeability” between their online and offline worlds. My mom, who’s past 60, spends *lots* of time online reading the news, corresponding with family, and so on — but *no* time on social networking etc. She has, I’m pretty sure, zero online-only or online-first friends. I’m well over at the other end of the spectrum. There are lots of points in-between.
My point, I guess, is that the experience you related here is yet one more data point that we have increasing choices about the permeability and interconnection between our online and offline worlds. Different people will explore these boundaries (or just jump right over them) at different rates. There’s not a simple rule to it — but it’s silly to think (as the guy on my panel did) that there’s some bright line that applies to everyone.
March 5, 2008 at 8:39 am
[...] These thoughts arose as I read this little post from Kent Nichols: Offline becoming more online [...]
March 5, 2008 at 11:22 am
That is great, Kent. I love these real world stories. Plus, now I will know that your toes are good to go when I meet you next week!
March 5, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Good points in this post. I’ve also been using Yelp for almost a year. Although most of the referrals I’ve gotten through the site have been food or entertainment related, it’s been a great way to exchange information online that affects the way I choose businesses offline.