Lamenting the infighting of the SEO industry

The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry is something that people tend to drift into.

It often attracts problem solvers, who get into the subject as a matter of addressing existing problems relating to their own or client websites.

Recently, there has been some ugly infighting in the industry.

In part it’s due to misunderstandings, but there’s an underlying theme - there is an established generation of SEO’s, and new generation looking to establish themselves.

While genuine debate can provide a healthy and constructive discussion, too often the more recent infighting has been focused on criticising people on a personal level.

This in itself can seem ugly enough, but sometimes the arguments have been thrown into public forums, where members who know nothing of the situation nor people involved, can join in with whatever vindictive and threatening language they see fit.

I left one of those forums today where this was encouraged, because I feel there’s no place for such acute attacks of a personal nature.

Someone suggested it’s because I need the respect the industry, but the respect of the industry doesn’t pay my bills, and I don’t have a business relationship with any of the people involved, nor expect to do so in the future.

I am a firm believer that when people of disagree, being able to hold your own in a respectful manner is of great importance. I guess I’ve always been something of an Old English Gentleman in that way.

I have been involved in flame wars online before, especially when I first joined the net. I eventually learned that it did nothing constructive. It was wasteful conflict.

I’m not a very confrontational person. Some may think that means I want to appease everybody.

Really, I just have no interest in picking fights unless they mean something to me. And there are few causes - especially personal conflicts - that have any meaning for me.

I do have one fight that means something to me - and hopefully it’ll go up this week - an online magazine to cover stories of social and environmental interest: to promote interfaith understanding, and raise awareness of social issues around the world that deserve wider attention.

That’s what I expect to deliver in a fight - not something aimed at judging people as right or wrong, but something that aims to change people’s ideas and way of thinking.

A bit pretentious perhaps? Maybe, but if you disagree with my ideals, I hardly think it’s worth fighting over. :)

In the meantime, the SEO industry is hopefully losing its taste for infighting. I just hope that as it does, the people who have any fight left at least behave in a more gentlemanly manner.

UPDATE:

Aaron Wall has closed the SEO fight thread at Threadwatch
Mike Grehan is sick of it and wants to move on
John Scott has removed his response to Mike Grehan’s criticisms from v7n