Jeff Jarvis, Dell, and an intern who thinks he's a worm

Posted by: Stephen Baker on July 12

An intern at an ad agency is trouble-shooting for Dell in the blogosphere and apparently finds the time to leave a comment on Dell-tormenter Jeff Jarvis’s blog and call him a “worm.” If you haven’t read the post and the traffic on this one, it’s worth a few minutes.

If you look at it through traditional eyes, it shows that Dell is stumbling into new media and facing the risks: a loss of control. Viewed this way, the PR agency will apologize to Jarvis (check), give the intern the heave ho (?), and establish more control over Dell’s blogging operation. But how about looking at it the other way? The intern, Chris, has a point of view. What is Dell doing right? What it is about Jarvis that conjures up images of slime and night-crawlers? Sure, it would be nice if he or she kept it a bit more cordial, but it takes everyone a while to get a blog voice in gear. I say it’s too early to gag the intern. Have it out. Have some fun.

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When I first met my wife-to-be, in El Paso, she told me she was from Marion, Ohio. “Warren Harding’s home town,” I said, and she immediately pegged me as the kind of insufferable journalist who delights in Trivial Pursuit. I had to fight hard to win her trust and affection. We’re driving to Marion today, and from there to Madison, Wis., where our 18-year-old will be going to the U. I’ll take along the laptop and blog from great Midwest.