I just returned from a week of Internet-deprived vacation to find that Dell has joined the blogosphere, and what a welcoming party it’s been!

In the 11 days since Dell launched the one2one blog, it’s received more scrutiny in social media land than the anti-abortionist who took an article in The Onion seriously. Having the benefit of a little hindsight by being late to the party, I have to give Dell credit for quickly fine-tuning its blogging voice to adjust to the early comments from critics.

If you look at Dell’s inaugural post on July 5, it looks like something created by the advertising department. Very promotional, very boring, very disappointing. Dell shoulda known better, really, after the drubbing it took last year from Jeff Jarvis and a band of sore customers.

The blogosphere was quick to respond. Jarvis ridiculed the effort as being too self-promotional. Fair enough. Steve Rubel said he was disappointed and invited Dell to join the conversation, not just talk at people. Both Jarvis and Rubel got their fair share of comments from Dell-haters, of whom there are apparently many.

I thought Nicholas Carr’s review was the most interesting, though. He upbraided Jarvis and Rubel for blogger smugness and pointed out that one2one is a conversation between Dell and its customers, not its blogger critics.

Carr nailed it. There’s a real risk of bloggers looking smug and insular now that their ship has come in and blogging is suddenly popular. A-listers like Rubel and Jarvis should be welcoming Dell to the conversation and offering gentle advice, not lashing it for cluelessness.

I suspect the decision to launch a blog was a very difficult and political one inside Dell. Last January, a Dell spokeswoman told me that there were no plans for a corporate blog, so this is a big turnaround. I’m sure Dell knew it was going to get plenty of feedback from customers when it went live and that it was going to be no small task managing that response. Customers certainly haven’t disappointed with their comments. Dell isn’t responding openly to many comments on the blog, but it’s possible they’re handling a lot of that offline. In any case, Carr is right that one2one is a conversation between Dell and its customers, not a Broadway show playing to critics’ reviews.

It’s true that Dell’s initial blog entries were weak but the company deserves time and patience to get it right. And the company is trying. On July 13, Dell’s Lionel Menchaca defended the company against criticisms that it isn’t listening. The same day, customer support director Laura Bosworth issued a rather remarkable confession about Dell’s support woes. And on Friday, Menchaca was back elucidating and elaborating on the blog’s commenting policy.

All in all, I think Dell came a long way in a week-and-a-half toward adapting its blog to the standards of the community. It launched its blog under a spotlight, made some quick adjustments and is demonstrating that it’s willing to listen. Jarvis has provided running commentary that is still on the shrill side. Steve Rubel came back with a positive and constructive attaboy.

Category: Corporate Blogging