Dell finds a new hell -- bloggers slam the launch of one2one

As you might predict, some bloggers jumped all over Dell for its new blog, one2one.

Steve Rubel of Edelman wrote that the blog should have started with an interview with Jeff Jarvis, the popular blogger who complained bitterly -- and often -- about his Dell experience. Without such a feature, he said, it might have been better for Dell to be silent:

"We know you're bigger than this," he wrote. "Join us. Be real. Walk the talk."

I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous. Who is us? The evangelists who beg everyone in Corporate America to blog ... and then slam anyone foolish enough to take them up on it?

The Dell bloggers are just regular folk who no doubt are dipping their toes into the water just as all of us did -- at some point.

Jarvis himself was hyper-critical, saying one2one was a blog in "content management system name only."

The same thing happened with the Ford Bold Moves site, which immediately took flak for being just "PR crap."

What's so interesting about these comments is that bloggers expect Ford, Dell and others to launch with complete openness, airing their faults and warts and problems from Day One.

But how many PR bloggers do the same? When I start seeing posts from PR bloggers about the clients they've lost, the big projects they've screwed up, the invoices they've padded, etc., then perhaps I'll cut them some slack.

Thankfully, there are some folks who see Dell's one2one from a more realistic perspective.

PR blogger Andy Lark:

"Perhaps the best thing we could do to welcome a new corporate blog isn't to critique it (just yet) but rather to participate. Engage them if you are interested. Give it time to settle and grow and nurture it with comments."

PR blogger Shel Holtz:

"The blog’s authors are real people serving as human touch points for customers, and given a bit of time to find its footing, one2one could very well be exactly what Jarvis, Rubel and the other critics believe it should be. But blogs do need time to find their voice — especially group blogs —and corporations don’t move at the same light speed as individual bloggers and evangelist agencies."

To their credit, the Dell people responded graciously to the criticism. Good for them.

Update: More common sense from PR blogger Kevin Dugan.

Update No. 2: Mike Driehorst displays some common sense, too.