SEO is a very insular field. My impression from my readings of SEO blogs is that many SEOs themselves are so involved in search engine optimization that sometimes they forget that there’s a whole wide world of individuals who still don’t know about it and why it is necessary.

A few months ago, I didn’t know what SEO was either. The term was used in front of me, and I’ll admit (with a little blush :oops:) that I didn’t know what in the world SEO meant and shrugged it off whenever it was mentioned rather than asking. I never wanted to find out what it was because I didn’t want to risk looking stupid among people to whom SEO is a daily routine.

I come from a mixed technology background: I started off dabbling in programming and web development, though I realized I fared better with more of hardware, networking, and system administration work. I began my career in SEO by actually doing system administration at a web design, SEO, and hosting firm. And I still didn’t know what SEO was when I joined up with the team.

Over the holiday weekend, I bought a bunch of books from some of my favorite bloggers. From what I’ve been hearing from reviewers and from other bloggers, these books are definitely “must reads,” and I’ve consequently chosen them rather carefully.

I began pondering the idea, however, that these bloggers are writing real books. I read a lot of blogs, but not so many books. Should I draw the line or should I give the print method a fair chance — especially because they are coming from people whose blogs I read daily?

I’ve also run into some other stickier situations, some that deal with my own personal time and others about the thought of bloggers as real-book authors.

With RSS and online content in abundance, where does one find the time to read books and traditional media?
I must say that I used to be an extremely avid reader. When I got a computer, that changed. I wasn’t reading books, per se, but the lines and lines of chat and forum posts and blog posts began filling the void that I was missing in real pages of paper. I suppose I have fallen victim of technology overload, which apparently isn’t too uncommon anymore.

Nothing is secret anymore. Unfortunately for Robert Scoble, whose private correspondence was aired on a blog, we are beginning to slowly learn that anything could potentially become public knowledge.

Okay, well, Robert Scoble’s experience is on the far extreme end of things. The blogger who brought Robert’s private correspondence into the light was acting not only unethically but did something that the blogosphere considers extremely socially awkward.

Despite this, people are learning more about you, no matter what you do, and your life isn’t necessarily private anymore. Blogs are mediums for people to talk. Some people will talk with integrity, with professionalism. Others will just try to instigate, obviously not caring too much about the people who are affected. (Interestingly enough, the individual who posted to the PodCamp NYC blog about Robert didn’t identify himself; he posted instead as “podcastnyc.net”. He had the courage to write a completely inappropriate blog post but he didn’t have the courage to go all the way and use his own name. Sad.)

Blogs are just one part of the picture. The other part isn’t exactly the latest in news: your Facebook and MySpace profiles aren’t secret either. It could cost you a job offer. It can tarnish a good reputation when you flaunt characteristics that are atypical of the model employee.

We’d have never imagined the scope of our online communications when the Internet was first discovered for its networking potential. It soon became easy to chat with millions of people across the globe — and with forums, emails, and instant messages, this occurred simultaneously and with ease. Multitasking made it easier than a simple telephone or conference call. Forums and networks of friends enabled people to voice their opinions under a faceless name, though one that is often remembered more easily by a wider audience than ever thought possible.

The arm of social networking reaches farther than we’d have ever dreamed of a decade ago.

It’s a wonderful thing in its living being, and thriving social communities are indications that people flock to these social interactions despite how impersonal they may seem.

It’s no wonder that when someone dies in your social circle, it’s more than just hearing about another name or face in the news. It becomes real.

Those of you who have read of me through my blog might see that I’ve been trying not to get too personal in my blog posts. Industry news and a little opinion has been what I’ve covered thus far. I suppose this is partly because of advice I have taken from a well-known SEO who ironically wrote an interesting blog post a mere three days ago on bad advice that sounds good. I take advice from such individuals with more than just a grain of salt because those are the very individuals who are defining my perspective on SEO, of which I have recently shown great interest.

Note that I said “recently.” That’s because a few months ago, I didn’t even know such a thing existed. I was a huge participant in social media, but SEO was a virtual unknown to me.

I remember approaching Aaron about my blog initially, asking him what I should write about. He mentioned that I should really hone down to a main idea. This is good advice if I amassed all of the information on SEO as he has, but like I said, I’m a newcomer to this scene and this blog was originally an attempt for me to discover this world. My “main idea” is too broad if I am going to write what I’m passionate about.