The power of dialogue

One of my favorite blogs is Jeff Jarvis' Buzz Machine. He's a veteran writer, political agitator, social media evangelist and an insightful commentator on all the changes that are happening in conventional media.

His recent post about Dell and its foray into blogging is a great case study in how a company is embracing social media and engaging in a meaningful dialogue with its customers.

It's an inspiring story (one that's not over yet as Dell struggles to turn itself around), and it makes me wonder whether the same kind of changes will happen in big companies as they learn to listen to, and interact with, their employees. As employees become increasingly disengaged and companies struggle to reconnect with them, will internal blogs be part of the solution? I hope so, but I worry that it will take years, if not decades, for us to figure out how to use these tools. And I wonder who will be the first to hit a home run.

Or has someone hit it already?