Question: Do you prefer non-personal blogs over personal blogs?
This can be a fun and also a very important question to ask yourself, whether you are a blogger or a blog reader. Do you prefer reading and writing non-personal blogs over personal blogs?
Many people think personal blogs offer not much value to the blogosphere, and I think while that may be true in case of many specific personal blogs, non-personal blogs are more prone to not offering any value, while creating an illusion of value. Thus, both personal and non-personal blogs can offer value, and can also waste time, energy and faith, depending on the perspective used to look at things.
In this question, I am asking specifically about the importance of non-personal blogs in your life, and comparing it to the importance of personal blogs in your life. To give you a better idea of personal blogs and non-personal blogs, here is one of the countless ways to look at both of them.
Personal Blogs Vs. Non-Personal Blogs
Personal Blogs
A personal blog can be a place where a blogger talks about his or her daily life, daily outtake on things, or even opinions about certain topics. A personal touch is added where the personal and human emotion and feeling and analysis, among several other things, are given preference over business or non-personal attitudes. I also recently talked about how personal blogs can and should have subniches, something which has not yet been done effectively because many people still think personal blogging is not a niche at all. Spoken-For and BubblesSoc are examples of how personal blogs can compete with non-personal blogs very effectively with interesting, personal designs and useful perspective on things.
Non-Personal Blogs
A non-personal blog can be a place where a blogger does not aim to get personal with the readers. For example, places like Google Analytics Blog, MyBlogLog Blog, and even CopyBlogger are places where the focus of an entity is on a certain topic and promoting an idea to the readers. In this case, Google and MyBlogLog blogs are simply advertisements and news blogs, promoting a certain company and its products and services. CopyBlogger is a great example of a non-personal blog that delivers very useful information to people looking for help with online copy writing.
Are there any other categories?
Yes, and I think you are looking at one of them. A third kind of category is a hybrid of personal blogs, non-personal blogs and a few other things. The personal message, ideas, ideals and values are never let go, and the actual style changes depending on the message at hand. I also like to think that every blog can be a personal blog, if certain elements are present in that blog.
Do you prefer non-personal blogs over personal blogs? How about your own blog, or the blogs you read?
What is your opinion about this? Do you prefer reading or writing non-personal blogs over personal blogs? Would you consider a personal blogger as important as a non-personal blogger?
Thank you for reading. 
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( July 14th, 2007 at 5:34 pm )
I like blogs that are written with a personal style. Words on a screen have meaning and emotion. Even better when the person writing can freely express their feelings and not have to hide behind a “corporate” cover.
BeachBum
( July 15th, 2007 at 11:47 am )
Even corporate blogs and those strictly dedicated to reporting news can adopt a personal touch, although not so much as others. I agree with BeachBum about meaning and emotion. We are, after all, people writing for people. Why bother if we ignore the human element?
Short answer: a bit of personal injection is preferable.
( July 15th, 2007 at 4:07 pm )
I tend to read more of the “hybrid” type…. niche blogs with both purpose and individual style. I do subscribe to a few personal journal types, to keep up with friends, and a few just-the-facts blogs …. but I with both types, I find I skim titles, and read an entry here and there. Its personality with a point that draws me in.
: ) (personality) —>(point)
See what I mean?
( July 18th, 2007 at 1:39 pm )
BeachBum, thanks for the comment. So in your view, any kind of a decent blog that is written in a personal style is better than producing that blog in a completely commercial or non-personal manner?
True, it can be nice to fully express your feelings on a topic, or most of them, so that one can cover all the bases. However, many bloggers working for some corporations tend to be biased in their personal opinions, since they want to promote their company and also because they do not want to upset their employers. What do you think about many corporations not preferring employees to talk negatively about their products?
Carolyn Manning, thank you for commenting.
Sure, corporate and news blogs can add a personal touch on a little bit formal level, though I usually notice that the ones already doing that are biased because they promote their work and products.
A good next question should be: should a personal injection be balanced, or can it be biased since it still adds a personal opinion to things? Would being biased in one’s writing to promote his or her company, even if it is personal writing, be the same as a corporate writing ot an advertising since they are tend and aim to promote a certain brand and product?
MT of MindTweaks, thanks for the comment too. I also keep up with some friends through their personal journals.
By just the facts blogs, do you mean very blogs with very specialized niches talking about something very specific?
Your comment is a good example of how the title and the opening content can help both personal and non-personal blogging articles and posts.
Yes, I think see what you mean.
Thank you.
( July 18th, 2007 at 3:10 pm )
Bes, I meant more of a personal flavor, not necessarily personal opinion. But I think we’re both talking about the same thing. Particularly with advertising, there isn’t too much other than the writer’s natural flair that can be added. Now that I think about it, corporate writing holds much of the same restriction, but maybe not quite so hard and fast.
Yep, that’s where I was going: a personal flavor using the writer’s natural flair.
( July 20th, 2007 at 3:31 pm )
Carolyn Manning, thanks for explaining. You have a good point; only some personal touch of the actual person managing or creating the advertising message can usually go through, an advertisement, as being something on a personal level, and even that may be limited or non-existent, or available in forms more influenced by non-personal things than a personal touch. I wonder if advertisements can be made more personal by not only including personal stories of customers supporting a product but also doing otherwise.
“A personal flavor using the writer’s natural flair” - very interesting wording.
( July 20th, 2007 at 3:50 pm )
“I wonder if advertisements can be made more personal by not only including personal stories of customers supporting a product but also doing otherwise.”
Answer: a resounding “I don’t know”.
To be honest, I don’t trust testimonials unless I know the person giving the testament. If you didn’t know me and saw an advertisement with an endorsement from “Carolyn Manning, Pennsylvania” what in the world would induce you to believe it? Without personal knowledge, you don’t even know if there’s a person by that name living in Pennsylvania.
A public review is an alternative, but that isn’t without it’s jade, either. Many reviews are sponsored, therefore we’re back to “believe it or not”.
If I’m close to being right, that leaves us with the phrase you like so much: a personal flavor using the writer’s natural flair.
( July 20th, 2007 at 10:24 pm )
I prefer interesting blogs and the ones where I learn something new. I also enjoy reading someone’s gifted writing be it a personal or not. Although I do have more non-personal than personal blogs in my reader.
( July 22nd, 2007 at 12:36 pm )
Carolyn Manning, thanks for explaining further. You have some very good points. For that same reason, I start wondering “Is this all 100% accurate?” when I see testimonials on websites from supposed hosting ro other product customers and no way for a person to verify the authenticity, like a link to their website or even a way to e-mail those people.
Many reviews are indeed sponsored, or are written by people who are intending to show why a product is good, and thus there may be a high chance that they may push only the strong good points onto the public. Good point again.
I really think that phrase is interesting.
Thank you again.
Vivien-inspirationbit, thanks for sharing. That is how one of the ways to look at this, in my view, should be: to give everyone a fair chance and then decide whether or not something is worth our time and attention.
That is a good way to measure things, to see whether we have more personal or more non-personal blogs in our readers, bookmarks and other places. That can also help us understand why we may like something, yet our actions may say things a bit differently. It sure will help me.
( July 23rd, 2007 at 9:56 am )
Hey Bes… Great conversations going on here.
You asked what I meant by “just the facts blogs” — I was referring to the type of blog that offers updates or reports on a subject, without any sense of personality at all, and yes, I think they are often specialized niche blogs, though they don’t have to be.
For these blogs, the authors can change, but as a reader, I’d never notice. These blogs have to stay very focused on their topic, or they’ll lose me. With no personal interest in the blogger themselves, no sense of a relationship, the minute it stops being useful, I’m gone.
The comments about testimonials were interesting — For me, very few of them register on my radar, and I often suspect they’re “not real” since new products often crop up with 50 glowing testimonials… meaning they are either forged, from beta testers, from friends, etc. A personal recommendation from one blogger I trust goes a lot further than 100 testimonials from strangers.