Monica and Mustafa own North Cambridge Laundromat. It’s about 10 miles from my house, and I drive there to drop of my dry cleaning. You would too if you met them. They’re wonderful people. They hug and kiss you on the cheek. They ask about your kids, your job, and your weekend plans. And they have a great sense of humor. They remind me of what small town stores were once like—and might still be like in other small towns across America. They are many people like me, who would drive across town for them. And what makes this blogworthy is how these people are discovering them: On Yelp…

I spoke with Mustafa today who said he gets one new dry cleaning customer a week through a Yelp referral. That’s extraordinary considering that the laundromat is not located near public transportation. There are many laundromats on the same street, not to mention at least 2 big chains. It’s great that Yelp is has helped like minded people discover their local people who are passionate about what they do–and provide new customers for deserving small business.

We change with the windows open. We change with an audience staring into our apartments. We walk around naked cooking breakfast for our neighbors to see.

I’m a member of ASmallWorld, an exclusive online community for international students and young professionals. Today while browsing through the public forums, I came across a post that surprised me. A young lady from New York asked publicly for recommendations for a psychiatrist. At least ten people replied immediately, publicly sharing their doctors phone numbers and even their experiences with them. A few doctors actually responded as well. I was surprised that people where willing to share this information publicly on the forum, or developed enough trust with ASmallWorld that they were comfortable with it.

There’s another way to look at this. The values of community offline are the same values of a community online. I’ve been to parties with the same types of people who responded—and it’s a topic that’s come up. Also, I suppose it’s really no different then people sharing details on their Myspace page that make the shy blush.

Sometimes we forget that what we do online is visible to the world. Sometimes we forget that while think we’ll alone, our neighbors can see everything we share. And some people don’t mind changing with the windows open…