Computer giant Dell, already have a blog, Direct2Dell and Dell Island in Second Life, but they have recently launched two additional “conversation” sites to their online offering. The first is called Dell IdeaStorm where anyone can post ideas for new or changes to Dell products and services. It supports comments and also Digg style voting so you can put your 2 cents worth in on someone else’s idea. This is Dell’s explanation:

In 1984, Michael Dell had $1000 and an unprecedented idea ? bypass the middleman and sell custom-built PCs directly to customers. This idea led to the creation of what is now Dell Inc. and the birth of Dell?’s direct model. Twenty three years later, we believe more than ever that the best way to understand and serve our customers is to talk to you directly, wherever you may be located. The only difference between 1984 and 2006 is that we now have millions of global customers in more than 100 countries.

It is with this mindset that we created Ideastorm. The name is a take-off on the word ?"brainstorm?" and it is our way of building an online community that brings all of us closer to the creative side of technology by allowing you to share ideas and interact with other customers and Dell experts. You can suggest new products or services you?’d like to see Dell develop or tell the world how you feel about major trends in technology and society. We hope this site fosters a candid and robust conversation about your ideas.

The second site, is called StudioDell which is basically a mini YouTube online video proposition. You can find such interesting videos as “Why Migrate to Vista Now” and “How to Mount Flat Panel TVs”. There is a lot of content from Dell, but you can also contribute your videos.

Dell faced a massive brand issue with the exploding laptop batteries problems in 2006 and used their blog to open up a public conversation about it, rather than trying to just spin it. It is a big move for a company of this size to put itself out there, but I think it will ultimately help them rebuild confidence in the brand.

I applaud Dell’s continued expansion of their web 2.0 and consumer generated media strategy and believe it will be successful for them.